The Troubles with Youth
by Footloose Poets
Summary: During a fruitless search for the missing Ranger Halt, the only person Will found was a small, freezing boy. But it turns out the child knows far more about Halt's whereabouts than they ever expected.
1. Prologue

**Hello all! Welcome to my FIRST fanfiction - 'The Troubles with Youth'! Now, I must warn you now, I'm a massive fan of fantasy, so you'll be seeing some out-of-the-ordinary happenings that don't appear in the real Ranger's Apprentice series. If you can't appreciate that, read no further.**

**There will also be some extreme out-of-character scenes about Halt, who happens to be my absolute favourite character (I can guarantee almost all of my future Ranger's Apprentice fanfictions will include him). There will most likely be some spoilers for book eight, so you've been warned. Please enjoy!**

**This story is set after Book Nine, but could pass for post-series (does that even make sense?).**

**Please don't forget to review! Being a new fanfiction author, I appreciate ANY input.**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way own the rights to the legendary series of Ranger's Apprentice (John Flanagan does, however).**

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><p>Abelard whinnied softly as Will rode Tug up beside him. The young Ranger dismounted his shaggy pony and moved to stroke his mentor's horse.<p>

"Hullo boy," he crooned. "How are you? Where's Halt?"

Abelard whinnied again, almost informatively, and Will wished, not for the first time, that horses could talk.

Halt had been missing for at least two weeks after setting out on a mission to track down a solo criminal, and Abelard was the first sign Will had found of his former mentor. Will's heart lifted considerably. He'd been extremely pessimistic since he started searching for Halt yesterday. Compared to what the legendary Ranger usually did, this should've been a laughably simple assignment, yet he hadn't been seen since he first left. Naturally, Will was more than a little worried. What if something terrible had happened to Halt? What if he was lying somewhere on the forest floor, injured, or worse?

_Of __course __he __isn't! __He's __Halt __the __Ranger, _Will thought, _he __couldn't __have __been __bested __by __a __mere __common __criminal._ The thought was a little ignorant, but it was, in a way, mostly true. Halt could probably handle a simple thief or bandit with his eyes closed. The case would likely be that he simply needs a bit of a hand with this one. Will left Tug beside Abelard and ventured into the forest on foot. His soft leather boots barely made a sound on the snow as he went. Every few minutes he'd stop and listen for any hints of another soul in the seemingly empty forest, then continue on his way.

After almost an hour of searching, he finally heard something. It was only a small sound – in fact, it could have just been an animal scratching about in the snow.

Still, Will now felt hopeful.

After all, there was no reason why it couldn't be Halt (apart from the fact it would mean the Ranger was getting sloppy); Abelard had been waiting on the edge of the forest, so he had to be in the area.

Will followed the sound through the trees, and as it came closer, it became more distinct. Eventually, he was led to the source, which was apparently hiding behind a tree. Will rounded it and...

His hope were dashed. He hadn't found Halt, of course.

But he did find a small boy, curled up at the foot of the large oak.

Freezing.

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><p><strong>Yes, it was quite short. But the second chapter, which is written and waiting to be posted (and will be posted quicker the more reviews I get), is much longer. This was more of a preview-slash-prologue.<strong>


	2. The Boy

**Hello again! Thank you to those who reviewed my last chapter! I had no idea reading reviews felt so good. **

**This chapter may be a little hard to follow, but I'm sure you'll be fine. This is where it starts to get a little strange, so, as I mentioned earlier, if you can't appreciate the fantasy, stop reading this right now.**

**Do enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way own the Ranger's Apprentice series (does that really need to be said? Probably not...).**

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><p>He began to wake up. His surroundings were silent. He could feel soft sheets, a warm blanket. It was a pleasant contrast to the freezing snow. He pulled the fur blanket up to his chin and enjoyed its soothing warmth for a long moment as his mind woke up.<p>

Suddenly, he realised something wasn't right. This wasn't where he last remembered himself to be. The last thing he _could_ remember was that he had been in the forest, his body shivering uncontrollably as he tried desperately to preserve his body heat.

Eventually, however, he'd fallen unconscious.

He finally opened his eyes and peered around the room. The high, empty beds that lined the stone walls brought him to the conclusion that he must be in a castle infirmary.

He slowly sat up and slid out of bed. He had no injuries that required the special care of a castle healer, and it seemed the nasty graze down his right forearm had already been tended to and bandaged. He stared out the glazed window beside his bed, and was met with Castle Redmont's courtyard.

He needed to speak to the Baron.

It was urgent – something he'd discovered in the forest. He moved towards the door, but stopped dead when he realised he was still wearing the plain infirmary nightshirt that was distributed to patients if they stayed the night. He strode back to his bed in search of his clothes, which the healers usually folded up and placed on the bedside table. Strangely, they were nowhere to be seen; instead, a completely different outfit lay in its place.

Those clothes definitely _weren't _his.

Without even picking them up, he could tell they were only big enough to fit a small child, probably five at the very oldest. He reached to move them, but stopped in fascination when he saw his hand. There was only one word to describe it. It was…

Young.

He stared at it in great amazement and slight fear. He looked down at his own body for the first time since he woke up, and noticed he was just a bit closer to the floor. He ran his fingers down the side of his face and could once again only describe it as… young.

He looked around the empty infirmary and realised everything was different.

Everything was big.

The ceiling was higher, the door handle looked like it must be level with his shoulders and he could have sworn he had to climb just to get on top of the high infirmary beds.

He was speechless.

What on earth was going on?

He began to feel a little faint. He dropped onto the chair beside the bed as his head swam and his knees turned to jelly. He had to haul himself up to actually sit on the chair properly, and when he did his feet dangled freely over the edge, just brushing the floor as he sat there. He just stared around the room, mostly in shock, taking in the strangely _larger _features that were taunting him, puzzling him, and making him feel somewhat small and lost.

He was beginning to hope he'd just been given something strange from the healers, something that caused slight delirium.

There was no such luck, however.

This was real.

"Look, I'll just check on him first. He may not even be awake yet," the voice of a woman from outside the door woke him from his thoughts. One of the large double doors of the infirmary opened to a crack, and a middle-aged woman peeked inside.

When she spotted him, she turned to someone outside, still hidden by the door, and said in a hushed tone, "He's awake, but I'm going to check on him before you come in. Can you wait out here a moment?"

She glided into the infirmary, wearing the typical white dress of a castle healer. She strode up to him, smiling kindly. Her smile faded however, when she saw the fear and confusion in his eyes, and assumed it was simply because he'd woken up somewhere he didn't know.

"Good morning," the healer greeted him gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, than-" he suddenly clapped hand to his throat. His voice had come out in a high, child-like tone.

The healer frowned, "Oh dear, are you sure you're feeling alright? You look a little pale."

She placed the back of her palm on his forehead, checking for a fever. He stared up at her.

"What happened?" he asked in that terrifyingly childish voice he'd acquired.

"We were rather hoping you could tell us that," the healer replied. "The Ranger Will found you yesterday in the western forests. He was quite worried about you. In fact, he's here right now; would you like to speak to him?"

He nodded eagerly. Will the Ranger was _exactly _who he wanted to see. The healer was still concerned about him though.

"You're not hungry are you? There's a cup and jug of water on the table if you're thirsty," she offered.

"I'm good, thank you," he assured her stiffly. The last thing on his mind right now was his stomach.

"Okay," the healer looked a little doubtful, but seemed to accept he wasn't ill. "You should be able to go home today; you don't seem to have any lasting effects from the cold. Still, I suggest you eat something soon. You don't look well." She moved towards the door again. "I'll send Ranger Will in now. Don't be too alarmed; they may seem strange but Rangers are just like the rest of us."

He shrugged. He _definitely _wasn't scared of Will the Ranger. The healer opened the door, spoke once again to the person waiting outside, then left, just as Will the Ranger entered. The arrival of the Ranger made him forget his dizziness enough that he could stand again. He slid off the chair and advanced on Will anxiously.

"Finally Will! Do _you_ have any idea what's going on?" he said, and wasn't surprised when the Ranger just stared blankly at him, wondering how the boy felt so at ease that he could speak to a stranger in such a way.

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><p>Will had found the boy unconscious at the foot of a tree, shivering violently. He had quickly pulled off his cloak and wrapped it around him, holding him tight. The child continued to shudder in his arms, his teeth chattering and his messy black hair falling freely over his face. Will waited.<p>

Eventually, the boy's shivering subsided, and he was sound asleep in the Ranger's embrace. Will quickly checked him for injuries, but he found nothing beyond a graze. Then he hesitated; he was so close to finding Halt, but had to get this boy somewhere warm. The child was only wearing a light shirt and trousers, and would certainly freeze to death if he stayed out here.

Will reluctantly trudged back to Tug, holding the boy, who looked somewhere between four and five years old, in his arms. He somehow managed to place the boy on Tug, and then mounted himself.

They'd barely ridden twenty metres when Abelard began to follow behind them. Will, one arm around the boy and the other gripping the reins, turned slightly in the saddle to face the horse.

"Abelard, you need to stay. Halt is still here – he'll need you," he said.

Abelard whinnied defiantly, and when Will began to ride off again, the horse followed.

"Abelard, stay!" Will grumbled in annoyance.

The horse nickered stubbornly and walked up to stand beside Tug. He stared at the boy in Will's arms, almost in confusion. Abelard nudged him several times, and the child gently pushed him away, muttering in his sleep. Will frowned. If Abelard kept this up, he'd wake the poor boy.

"Let him be. He's asleep," Will said quietly.

Tug started on again, and Will looked back. Sure enough, Abelard was trotting behind them.

What had gotten into that horse?

Will realised he didn't care anymore.

"Fine!" he shouted in defeat. "Follow me! Halt's not going to be happy when he has to walk home!"

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><p>Now the boy stood before Will in the infirmary, waiting for the nonresponsive Ranger to speak. When a long moment had passed and he still hadn't opened his mouth, the boy decided to explain a little better.<p>

"Look, I was tailing the outlaw through the forest and I managed to catch them but got -" The child was talking so fast his words were strung together. Will cut him off before he hurt himself.

"Stop! Just take a breath for a moment. Now, start with your name, and we'll go on from there. Slowly."

The boy looked indignant, "Start with my name? Will, it's me!"

Will looked blank, "Who?"

The child sighed, "Well, I suppose you wouldn't recognise me now. Will, it's me... Halt."

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><p><strong>Oh, that's strange, isn't it? How on earth can this be? Is it just a dream? A lie? Who knows? <strong>

**Well, I do of course, but you'll soon find out yourself.**

**I told you this chapter would be longer! Is it too long? Has anyone dropped out already? Let me know if you have.**

**Now, I pre-wrote chapters one and two, which is why the update was so quick. I'm afraid chapter three may take a bit longer...**

**Please Review!**


	3. The Boy is WHO?

**Hello, hello! Thanks for the reviews everybody! Here is chapter three!**

**Yes, no, maybe so... Halt _may _be five years old. That's brought up in this chapter, in fact.**

**Don't be mislead by the 'length' of this chapter. It's actually more or less a similar size to the last; I just have more lines to increase the effects of some of the words...**

**Oh, look at me, I'm waffling like my old principal. Let's just get on with the story.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: This is an absolutely pointless exercise but... I do not own any rights to any part of the Ranger's Apprentice Series.**

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><p>"Who?" Will repeated, sure he'd misheard.<p>

"Halt," the boy grumbled, a little irritated now.

Will's jaw dropped. It couldn't be. It was simply impossible for the child before him to be the legendary Ranger Halt.

"Who?" Will said for the third time. He couldn't help himself; he'd gone into shock.

This time the boy flared angrily. "Oh, for Pete's sake, Will! I said I'm Halt! Halt the Ranger! Halt, your mentor! How many times do I have to say it? And will you stop standing there like a stunned mullet and say something yourself?" he growled.

"Impossible…" Will was glad his mouth finally said something other than the resounding 'who?'

"That's what I thought," the boy said through gritted teeth, his fists clenched. Will was beginning to frustrate him. "But it obviously isn't, is it? Otherwise, I'd be much taller, much older, and by now I would've tanned your backside so hard for acting like such an idiot right now that _you wouldn't be able to sit for a month!_"

Will blinked. The child's little outburst sounded _exactly _like something Halt would say. But it was said in a young, childish tone, from a small boy who looked like anything _but_ the threatening image of the Ranger Halt. Still, it suddenly left Will doubting his own common sense. The boy _remotely _resembled Halt. He had the same dark eyes and slim build, but apart from that he was just another child.

One that was clearly going mad.

Will walked across the infirmary, his mind moving a mile a minute, and sat down on the chair beside 'Halt's' bed. The child followed him anxiously. Will just rested his elbows on his knees, one of which was vigorously bobbing up and down with nervous energy. Minutes passed before he finally spoke again.

"How?" he asked, his throat too dry to say much else.

'Halt' began to pace before him.

"How?" he repeated. "How? How on earth am I supposed to know? One minute I was…" he trailed off. "… older… and the next I'm flaming four years old! How would you explain that?"

Will realised for the first time there was a strange degree of panic in the boy's eyes as he paced frantically back and forth.

"You could be five," Will regretted the words as soon as they passed his lips. Were these stupid little statements all his state of shock was going to let him say?

'Halt' stopped and stared at him as if he'd just said he was actually a horse.

"What exactly crawled into your coffee this morning and turned you into an idiot?" he scorned. "Next time you speak, try to say something that makes sense, is intelligent or, if it's too much to ask, something that may help us figure out _what on earth is going on_!"

Will finally found something constructive to say. "Well… Halt…" he still couldn't be certain if that was who he really was, "what do you remember? Maybe we could figure something out from that."

'Halt' thought for a moment before it all came back to him.

"Well…" he began.

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><p>"Come on, boy!" Halt urged Abelard to move even faster.<p>

The outlaw was just ahead of them, galloping towards the forest on their own horse. If they made it into the trees, it would make Halt's job much harder. The Ranger reined in his horse and, standing in the stirrups, drew his bow and fired an arrow towards the outlaw. He watched as it arced towards them.

Somehow however, it missed. As it came down on the outlaw, it had suddenly zipped off in another direction, spinning through the air and landing with a thud in the fresh snow.

Halt's jaw dropped.

He _never_ missed. He'd spent far too much of his life honing his skills in archery to do such a thing.

The outlaw reached the edge of the forest.

Then the impossible happened. The horse actually _vanished_ from beneath them and they dropped gracefully to the ground. Halt let out a small cry of pure astonishment. He shook his head vigorously, thinking he'd just imagined it.

He hadn't.

He didn't have time to just stop and gawk at the space where the horse was a second ago however, because the outlaw was on the move again. They ran into the forest, their cloak billowing out behind them. Halt gave Abelard the reins, and the horse galloped at full speed towards the trees. The Ranger reined in and leapt off Abelard, sprinting after the outlaw.

He kept running, searching wildly for the criminal. They were standing some fifty metres before him, waiting menacingly. It was then that Halt realised the face beneath the cowl was that of a woman. Her soft, ominous smirk said everything.

She meant trouble.

As Halt ran towards her, she vanished into thin air, just as her horse had. The Ranger stopped dead as a resounding cackle filled the forest.

Halt was suddenly thrown through the air and into a tree by an invisible force, and then pinned there, unable to move a muscle. The woman appeared before him in a cloud of green sparks, her face just centimetres from his and a mad grin playing on her lips. Her emerald eyes flashed with excitement.

"Why, Halt, what brings you here?" she asked.

Halt would have gasped if he wasn't paralysed. He'd never seen this woman in his life, and she knew his name?

She cocked her head in mock confusion. "What's wrong Ranger? You're being a bit quiet."

Halt couldn't answer. He'd already tried speaking several times.

"Right, listen here Halt. You're going to let me go free now and in exchange I'll bless you with a gift. How do you like that?" the woman asked.

Suddenly Halt could speak again, "A gift?"

"Of course. I can't just expect you to let me go without doing anything in return, surely?" she explained.

Halt wasn't interested. He'd heard this plea a thousand times. He was more concerned about the fact he was pinned to a tree by thin air.

"Look, I can tell you're not even considering my offer, but what if I told you I could give you the gift of…" she thought for a moment. "Youth? I know a man of your age would kill to be young again."

Halt raised an eyebrow. A man of his age? He wasn't that old, was he?

"The gift of youth?" he mocked. "What are you going to do, magic me back to twenty-five?"

"Would you like to be twenty-five?"

"Any _'man of my age'_ would like to be twenty-five, but what I want to know is how you would go about making such a thing possible."

The woman smiled playfully, "That's for me to know and for you to find out, Ranger… if you're happy to take up my offer. What do you think?"

"Oh, sure," Halt said sarcastically. "While you're at it, why don't you make me even younger? I'd love that."

There was a triumphant glint in the woman's emerald eyes as she said, "Okay," and clicked her fingers.

Then several events unfolded at once.

First, the woman vanished, and that same maniacal cackle echoed through the forest. Then Halt was thrown to the ground and a brilliantly terrifying vortex of green sparks swept up around him. His heart racing, he tried to scrabble to his feet but was forced once again to the ground.

An unearthly voice filled the air:

"_When you first take child's form,_

_Everything will remain the norm._

_Until the days do pass some more_

_And the change occurred a week of yore._

_Before then though, there'll be some change,_

_To every aspect of your ways._

_You'll gain each trait of the perfect child_

_And lose adult's traits all the while._

_Day by day, you will gain these:_

_Curiosity,_

_Imagination,_

_Fear,_

_Innocence,_

_Mind_

_And memory._

_The child within you will then be free"_

The vortex intensified, and Halt suddenly felt like he was being struck by lightning. There was some powerful, foreign energy rushing through every inch of his body, and he cried out in agony. It stopped as quickly as it started however, but the vortex continued to storm around him.

Something else was happening now.

The ground seemed like it was spinning beneath him, and he felt a strange warping sensation wash over him. He could suddenly hear the frightened sobs of a child, somewhere around him. He couldn't pick which direction it came from or how far away it may be, but it was certainly there.

He never realised it was coming from him.

The vortex instantly disappeared, and everything was silent. There was no one else around.

Nothing but the silence.

Nothing but the cold.

Everything was black.

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><p>"…That's all I remember before waking up here," Halt concluded.<p>

Will just stared, gobsmacked. He'd gotten over his doubt that this boy was Halt. He wasn't sure when he had his changed his mind, but he now believed every word.

"Do you think…?" Will trailed off.

"That was actually magic?" Halt finished for him. "Of course I do! Look at me, Will! Do you think I just waltzed into the forest and decided I wanted to be a child again?"

"Right," Will was thinking more clearly now; the shock was gone. "So that means we're not dealing with any ordinary criminal are we?"

"Your skills of observations astound me, Will," Halt said dryly.

"So she must have been a…" Will was getting on to something now.

"No, she _was _a…" Halt corrected him.

"… _Sorceress_," they said in unity.

As if they didn't already have a problem.

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><p><strong>Yes, as if they didn't already have a four (or five, who knows for sure?) year old Ranger running around. This is going to get interesting.<strong>

**Now, in response to any questions about the magic part, I assure you I have done _some_ research. According to my Book of Spells (yes, I really have one of those), when using a spell to release the child within (which, in reality, has much more mild effects than I've portrayed here), you may actually start crying like a child during the process, which Halt did.**

**How did you like my little (original) rhyme-spell? I wrote it in a bit of a rush.**

**Don't forget to hit that little yellow cloud below and tell me what you think of this chapter!**


	4. A Coffee Drinker No More

**G'day fellow fanfic members! Thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate your input.**

**In response to Lady Cougar-Trombone, the Book of Spells was a gift and it's really awesome (don't judge me).**

**Since I can't reply to Ranger Lauren's reviews because she's not a member, I'll just do it here: a tiny Ranger's cloak for Halt would be hilarious! I'll consider it...**

**Well, here's my next chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice**

**I invited Halt to tell you that, but he's a bit annoyed with me for turning him into a child, so he refused.**

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><p>"Now where are we going, Will?" Halt grumbled.<p>

They had just borrowed several sets of clothes that actually _fit_ Halt from the Ward, and the boy had assumed they would just head to Will's cabin now. However, Will was now heading in the opposite direction to the exit.

"To your apartment. Where else?" Will answered matter-of-factly.

"Wait," Halt suddenly bounded in front of Will and stood there, looking much like he was trying to block the way but obviously failing considering his current size as opposed to his companion's. "Why on earth are we going to my apartment?"

"I'm just dropping you off. You'll need me to help you explain your… _condition_ if you want any hope of convincing Pauline."

"But I don't want her seeing me like this! Who knows what she'll be like? She may very well start treating me like a… like a child," Halt finished quietly.

Will frowned. He had been so sure Halt would be relieved to be home with his wife. He opened his mouth to speak, but the boy cut him off.

"She can't know. All she'll do is worry, or think you're mental, or both."

"Where are you going to stay then? And – God forbid – what if this is permanent? Are you just going to pretend you died or something?" Will was genuinely confused.

Halt sighed. "Is there any chance I could stay with you in the old cottage? Just until we sort this out?" this was what Halt had intended all along, but he just realised he hadn't breathed a word of it to Will yet.

Will thought for a moment. He'd been planning a trip to Celtica for the past week, simply for something different to do on his upcoming time off. It looked like he'd have to postpone or even cancel it now. Still, he hadn't spent a lot of time with his former mentor lately, and despite the circumstances, this would be an excellent time to do so. He opened his mouth to reply…

"Morning, Will. You're here awfully early for such a quiet day."

Both Halt and Will swivelled around to come face to face with none other than Lady Pauline.

"Oh! Er, h-hello Pauline, I didn't see you there," Will stammered out after a moment of silence.

She smiled, "How have you been?"

"Good, good…" Will said distractedly.

Halt cursed under his breath. What were they going to do now?

Pauline suddenly turned serious. "You haven't heard anything from Halt yet, have you?" she asked. "He's been away an awfully long time considering his assignment."

"Uhh…" for once, Will was lost for words. He couldn't just straight out tell her Halt was right in front of her.

Halt noticed Will's struggle, and started forming an escape in his mind. He had an idea, but it was crazy. It was ludicrous.

It just might work.

But it involved doing something Halt _really _didn't want to do. Then he shrugged. _Sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do, _he thought.

He tugged at Will's cloak innocently. "Come oo-on," he groaned in the most uncharacteristically nagging voice he'd ever produced. "I ree-eally want to show you this."

Will's eyebrows shot up. He'd never heard Halt sound so… annoying.

Pauline looked down at the child tugging at the Ranger's cloak. "And who's this, Will?" she asked.

"Who, him? Oh, he's… er… a Ward I met a while ago. His name is…" Will searched for a name, "… er… Ethan."

Halt stopped for a moment and raised an eyebrow at Will's choice.

"Well it's nice to meet you Ethan," Pauline smiled.

"Mm-hmm, you too. Come _on_ Will," Halt nagged again, pulling even harder at Will's cloak while attempting to walk back the way they came.

"So you haven't seen Halt at all, Will?" Pauline asked again.

Will hesitated, then finally decided to obey his mentor, "No, I'm sorry. He hasn't come back yet."

"Oh," Pauline looked disappointed.

"Come_ oo-on_," Halt moaned again, this time grabbing Will around the arm and literally trying to drag him away.

Will shrugged at Pauline apologetically. "I'm sorry, I really have to go."

"That's alright. I understand. See you later then," Pauline smiled ruefully and turned to walk back down the corridor.

Will let his mentor pull him in the opposite direction, towards the castle exit. After they rounded the corner, Halt finally broke the awkward silence that had been hanging over them for the past few minutes.

"Ethan? Really?" he said.

"Well what did you expect? You really put me on the spot back there." Will complained. "And anyway, I could've picked any name and you wouldn't have liked it."

"Good point."

"Why don't you just tell her what happened? _I_ believed you didn't I?"

"You're much more gullible than she is. Like I said before, she'll just think you're mental. Either that, or she'll be worried sick."

"She already looks worried. At least if you told her she'd know you're alright." Will insisted.

Halt didn't reply. He wasn't sure how. He knew Will was just concerned about Pauline, and he wasn't to blame; she really did look worried for her husband. Halt just didn't want her knowing about this; he didn't want the attention.

Will gave up. The conversation was over. They continued on in silence for a few more minutes, until Will remembered something.

He smiled slyly, "You know Halt, you're a pretty good actor. You played a very convincing bratty little boy back there."

"Shut up, Will."

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><p>That night was freezing. Halt sat in one of the large armchairs by the fireplace in Will's home, a blanket around his shoulders. Will was preparing yet another pot of coffee for himself; much to Halt's chagrin, as his former apprentice hadn't even let him have a single mug, claiming it would keep him up all night. Halt had insisted he'd be fine, and he couldn't believe it when Will, of all people, still didn't give him one.<p>

It was close to betrayal in Halt's opinion.

The wind suddenly picked up outside, and something banged against the front door of the little cottage. Halt frowned. He got up and opened the door to see what had happened, and gasped.

"Will, you might want to come and see this," he called to the young man.

Will sidled up behind him, then did exactly what Halt had done; he gasped.

At the doorstep, placed in a neat pile, was Halt's weapons, Ranger's uniform, cloak, and on top, his silver oak leaf. Everything Halt had had when he'd come face to face with the sorceress.

"How did they get there?" Will asked for the both of them.

Halt had no idea how. He was dumbfounded. There was only one explanation he could think of.

"Magic."

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><p>Will poured himself a mug of coffee a few minutes later. He carried it across the main room and sat down with it in the second armchair by the fire.<p>

Halt watched him longingly as he lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip of the strong brew.

He so badly wanted coffee.

He could smell Will's drink from here. He imagined how warm the mug would feel against his hands on such a cold night. He thought of the bittersweet taste of the coffee with a generous spoonful of honey stirred into it.

He so badly wanted coffee.

"Could you grab me a mug, Will?" he asked for what must have been the twentieth time that day.

Will hesitated. He knew what coffee did to children, whether they were once addicted adults or not.

"Do you really think you should be having some this close to bed?" he asked.

"Do you really think it's safe to be questioning me about my coffee intake?" Halt countered grumpily.

"I don't know, Halt. It might keep you up."

Being a Ranger, drinking coffee had become so natural to Will and Halt that no matter when they drank it, it simply didn't give them the sort of indispensable energy that it did to others – the sort of energy that kept someone awake for the whole night. Halt assumed this was still the case, even now that he was hardly five years old.

"Will, I've been drinking coffee for the best part of most of my life. In fact, I was drinking the stuff before you were even born," he said stubbornly. "Now, for the last time, please get me some coffee before I _kick you into next winter!_"

Halt had always been short, but even now that he was next to pint-sized, Will still didn't doubt that he would follow through with one of his threats if the opportunity arose. Therefore, he obviously obeyed.

Halt would've gotten it himself hours ago, had he been able to reach the coffee on the high shelf of the cupboard. That was the worst part; he had to depend on Will just to get his favourite drink.

It wasn't fair, on either of them.

"Finally," Halt grumbled when Will handed him the steaming mug and once again sat down with his own.

Halt took a long sip of his brew, and savoured the wonderful taste for a moment. Then he looked back up at Will.

"Was that so hard?" he asked sarcastically.

Will just shrugged, and the two of them sat in companionable silence while they finished their coffees. Halt stared into the flames, watching them dance about in the fireplace.

After a few moments, he no longer wanted to rest; he felt like standing up. Instead of just getting up, however, he bounced out of his chair with some newfound energy, startling Will in the process. He jogged across the room and placed his mug on the table, then bounded back to stand in front of Will. The young Ranger just stared at him strangely. He noticed that Halt was bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet.

"What are we going to do about this problem, anyway?" the boy thought aloud, beginning to pace, with somewhat of a spring in his step.

"You mean the fact you're a four year old or the fact you can't get your own coffee?" Will asked.

"First, I could be five, and second, I'd say both problems," Halt sounded uncharacteristically jovial.

"Right. Well, if we want any hope of turning you back, I guess we have to find this sorceress. Where exactly did you first find her? Maybe she's gone back now that she doesn't need to worry about you following her …Halt?"

Will was sure Halt hadn't listened to a word he'd just said. The boy had started running around his companion's armchair, leaping over Will's outstretched legs each time he came to them.

"What _are _you doing?" Will asked in disbelief.

"Running," was all Halt said in return.

"But _why_?"

"Because I'm bored."

Will was awestruck. Halt was never just _bored_. Nor was he ever so impulsively energetic. Will had a vague idea of an explanation for this behaviour.

"Halt, I think that coffee has kicked in," he said.

"What do you mean by that?" Halt queried, stopping in front of Will and bouncing on the spot.

"Well, look at you!"

"I'm fine," Halt paused, then bounded towards the door, pulling on his jacket as he went.

"Where are you going?" Will was bewildered.

"I'm-going-for-a-walk!" Halt's words were strung together all of a sudden as he opened the door and ran outside, just managing to pull his boots over his socks as he went.

"Wait, Halt, it's freezing outside! Come back! Halt!" Will followed the boy out the door.

* * *

><p>"I think we might give coffee a miss next time," Will suggested to the exhausted child by the fire, wrapped in a fur blanket.<p>

"I think you might be right," Halt agreed. "How long was I running around for anyway, an hour?"

Will smiled at the grim expression his mentor was wearing. It looked natural on him as an adult, but on a child it looked so out of place it was amusing. He wondered if Halt was just as grim when he _really_ was a boy as he was now. That young face was so much better suited to a smile than a frown in Will's opinion.

"I'd say almost two," Will said as he sat down in the armchair opposite his mentor's, pulling his mandola out of its leather case.

Halt's eyes widened in sudden horror when he saw the stringed instrument.

"You're not going to play that piece of firewood now, are you?"

"I was rather hoping to, yes. This is my house; I'm allowed to play my mandola if I want to," Will countered.

"But you have to be courteous to your guests – if they still want their ears intact when they leave you should respect that."

"Nice try."

Will began to play, and Halt groaned, pulling his feet up onto the chair and burying his head in his blanket to block out the sound. Will ignored him. He began to play a song he'd learnt a while ago and was trying to perfect. It was a slow, melancholy tune – a lullaby, in fact. It was often hummed to children by their mothers as they drifted off to sleep. Each note blended beautifully with the others, creating an enchanting melody that was beginning to make Will drowsy.

As he was playing the last line, the hand Halt had been holding his blanket against his face with dropped into his lap.

"Given up trying to block out the beauty of my music? …Halt? Still there?" Will reached over and finally pulled the blanket off Halt's face.

The young man laughed quietly. It looked like Halt had reached the tail end of his energy dump.

The boy was sound asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>So there you go! Was it too long? This is my longest chapter yet!<strong>

**Was it good? Bad? Disappointingly mediocre? To send in your opinion, simply click that yellow thingie at the bottom of the page and post your review!**

**Should Will tell Pauline about Halt? What do you think?**


	5. WHO'S Arrived, My Lord?

**Well, here's the next chapter. Thanks so much for all your reviews, by the way! Let me know if you like this one. It was a bit tricky to write - I had the ideas, but I couldn't seem to put them to paper (I mean computer. I mean... oh never mind, you know what I mean!). Let me know if it worked out as well as I'd hoped!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: The Ranger's Apprentice Series is the intellectual property of John Flanagan.**

**I invited Tug to say that, but he just couldn't pull it off (figures, I guess; he is a horse)**

* * *

><p>For a brief moment after Halt woke up, everything was perfect.<p>

Perfectly normal.

He was in his bed, in his home. It was a perfectly normal winter morning in the perfectly normal Redmont Fief.

Then reality hit.

He was staying in his old bed in his former apprentice's cottage, under circumstances that were _anything_ but normal. After all, there was nothing normal about being turned into child by a mad sorceress.

He opened his eyes and stared at his Ranger's cloak hanging in the corner of the room. There was some forty years of his life, right before him. It had fit him perfectly since the day he first wore it.

He'd probably be swimming in it now.

How depressing.

He shrugged off these wistful thoughts and got out of bed.

* * *

><p>After he'd gotten changed, Halt wandered into the main room. Will was still asleep, and the sun was yet to rise. After revitalising the fire with a few pieces of firewood, he stared at the pantry cupboard.<p>

There was coffee in there, and Will was asleep.

Halt pulled a chair up to the cupboard and climbed on top of it so he could reach the shelf the coffee was kept on. He pulled the jar off the shelf and climbed down to boil the water on the stove.

Everything was going fine, until he heard movement in Will's room.

Halt cursed as the bedroom door opened and his former apprentice entered the room. Will smiled.

"Good Morning," he sounded irritatingly cheerful.

Halt scowled sourly. "One day I'll put an arrow through whoever decided to put those two words together," the boy was more than annoyed that Will had woken up and ruined his chance for coffee.

"Didn't sleep well, Halt?" Will asked. He was completely oblivious as to why his mentor was so grumpy.

"I slept fine, thank you," Halt grumbled, going to sit down at the table in defeat.

"Is that coffee for me?"

"Why not? It's not like I want it."

Will poured himself the mug that was _supposed _to be for Halt, then sat down opposite the boy. He took a sip. Halt scowled. He went to get himself a bowl of porridge for breakfast, trying desperately to ignore the bitter smell of the coffee that _he_ was supposed to have.

Will looked over at him, "Need a hand, Halt?"

"No," the boy replied, as he once again dragged the chair to the pantry so he could grab out the oats.

"So what do you propose we do today, anyway?" Will asked.

"We're going to see the Baron," Halt replied with a strong sense of finality in his voice.

"Wait up. When did you decide on this?" this was the first Will had heard of such a trip.

"Just then. We need to tell him what happened and who to look out for," the child explained, sitting back down at the table. "You weren't doing anything today anyway."

Will was just about to protest, but realised he really _wasn't _doing anything today, so just shrugged the thought off. He took another sip of his coffee, and Halt watched intently. Eventually, it became too hard to watch his apprentice so ignorantly guzzle coffee right in front of him.

"Get out," he said simply.

Will was taken aback, "Excuse me?"

"Get out!" Halt repeated indignantly. "If you're going to drink that horrid brown concoction you can do it outside!"

Will was suddenly galvanised into action, speeding out of the door in the blink of an eye, yet amazingly managing to spill no coffee at all in the process. Halt listened as the young Ranger swore when he tripped on the floorboard on the veranda that was raised just that little bit more than the others. Halt shook his head. He'd asked Will to fix that years ago. Literally.

"_Boys_," he muttered, then realised how ironic that sounded at the moment.

* * *

><p>Halt approached Abelard tentatively. The horse stared. Halt placed his hand on Abelard's snout, and the horse nickered quietly.<p>

"Hullo there boy. It's me," Halt assured him.

Abelard's eyes were filled with confusion: _What have you done to yourself this time?_ they seemed to say.

"I know. We're going to figure this out… I hope," Halt didn't want to make too many promises right now; not even to his horse.

"Well, are you ready to go?" Will interrupted.

"I am. Abelard isn't," Halt pointed out.

"You're riding _Abelard_ to Redmont Castle?" Will asked.

"No, Will. I'm riding a flying pig. What do _you_ think?" Halt growled.

"Oh. I just thought… you know…"

"No, Will. I'm afraid I don't," the boy said through gritted teeth.

"Never mind."

Will didn't dare say he thought Halt would be a bit… small… to ride alone. He just 'helped' Halt saddle up Abelard; in reality he did most of the work – Halt wasn't strong enough to saddle his horse properly so all he did was fit the bridle. Then the boy went to mount.

"Do you need a hand there, Halt?" Will offered.

"I'm fine," his companion grumbled indignantly.

"Alright." Will watched the boy doubtfully.

Halt lifted a leg into the stirrup, and tried to pull himself up. He just managed to, but when he went to lift his other leg over and sit in the saddle, he failed miserably. He tried again.

He failed again.

He took a deep breath, then realised he was going to have to face the reality that he simply couldn't mount Abelard on his own. First, however, he'd try again.

On his third attempt, Will silently came up behind him and lifted his first foot enough that Halt could swing his leg over and sit in the saddle. Halt stared at him for a moment, then his gaze dropped to the pommel and he muttered something that Will was sure was supposed to be a thank you. The boy flicked the reins and Abelard walked out of the stable.

"Come on then. We'd better get going now if we want to speak to the Baron before lunch," Halt called.

He was quite a comical figure, so small yet perched up on that large saddle with his legs hanging high above the stirrups. Will shook his head with amusement.

"I can't wait to see Arald's face when he hears this," he thought aloud.

* * *

><p>"Alright, so we just walk in?" Will couldn't believe Halt thought that would be acceptable.<p>

"Of course. Bursting in is a little too theatrical if you ask me – even to tell Arald there's a sorceress on the loose," Halt replied.

They strode down the corridor towards Baron Arald's study, earning strange looks whenever someone saw the small boy bouncing around the young Ranger's legs.

Will had noticed that about Halt. Ever since the 'incident', which they'd come to call it, he'd begun moving with a newfound energy that one would certainly not have associated with the Ranger Halt. He wasn't skipping or anything – he just seemed to walk with an extra spring in his step. He somewhat liked all this energy; as the years had passed, he had found rest steadily more welcoming, but now such a thing only existed as a raw essential and was done only when absolutely necessary.

It was brilliant.

Will knocked on the Baron's door.

"Come in," called Arald from inside.

They opened the door and strode in, walking right up to the Baron's desk.

After a quick bow, Will began, "My lord, this is urgent and bigger than both of us. Do you have a minute?"

Arald blinked, "Well, of course, but I think you should ask Gilan if he does."

Will frowned. There was something he missed just then. "Gilan?"

Arald nodded towards the person seated comfortably before him. The person Will and Halt hadn't even noticed as they barrelled past them. The tall, lanky person dressed in the grey and green mottled cloak.

Gilan.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh goody! It's Gilan!<strong>

**So, there you go. What did you think? Don't forget to review!**


	6. Curiosity

**'Allo 'Allo! Here's my next chapter everyone! I had fun writing it (whether the same goes for reading it, I can't tell; that's up to you).**

**I must warn you, Halt gets a bit out of character in this chapter, but that's only part of the story. He'll be yo-yo-ing in and out of character quite a bit in chapters to come.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Ranger's Apprentice Series, which just so happens to be written by John Flanagan.**

**I invited Gilan to say that, but he couldn't make it. He said something about Halt going missing, I think.**

* * *

><p>"What are you doing here, Gilan?" Will asked, breaking the stunned silence that had fallen over him and Halt.<p>

The young Ranger that sat before them didn't quite look himself. He still appeared healthy and cleanly shaven, but there was something about him that rang out as… different. Will looked him over for another minute, then finally spotted the difference.

Gilan wasn't happy. The bright, chipper cloud that usually hung over him didn't seem present. Instead, he seemed somewhat drained, or concerned. He smirked.

"_That's_ how you greet a friend you haven't seen in months, Will?" Gilan said in mock indignation. "I would have expected a hug, maybe, but what you gave me sounded more like Halt."

Will smiled. "It's good to see you, Gilan. Seriously though – what _are _you doing here?"

"Same reason you've been disappearing every day this week – to find Halt. You sent that letter a couple of days ago, remember?"

"You sent a letter to Gilan?" Halt sounded appalled. "Why? Did you think I couldn't handle myself?"

Arald frowned in confusion when he noticed the boy beside Will, "Who's this you've got here, Will? He's a bit young to be an apprentice, isn't he?" It was one of the Baron's attempts at a joke, but once again, no one caught on.

Will sighed. This was going to be difficult to explain.

"Er, my lord, his age is just the problem. You would know him as being… older, usually."

"What?" Arald's frown deepened.

"Will, it's too early to be cryptic; just tell us who he is," Gilan snapped.

"Who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Will countered.

Gilan raised his hands in a gesture of peace, "I'm sorry. I'm just a bit worried about Halt. I guess it's making me edgy."

Halt could see this was getting nowhere fast, so he took chance, "Well guess what? None of you need to worry anymore. I'm right here."

Arald nearly choked. Gilan nearly fell off his chair. Only, for the wrong reasons; instead of reacting out of surprise, they were laughing their heads off.

"You? Halt? Not in a million years! I'm sorry kid, but you're a bit young to be that old man," Gilan chuckled.

"You're definitely not too short though!" Arald chortled.

That was it. Halt wasn't expecting them to accept the truth very easily, but that last crack took their amusement a step too far. He _loathed _jokes about his height.

"Alright, shut up the lot of you!" he shouted angrily. "If we'd come here for a laugh, we would've brought the poor man who had to help Arald on his horse this morning to see if his arms are still sore!"

Halt regretted saying that as soon as it left his lips. Everyone fell silent. The Baron's smile faded.

"Very funny, boy. Who put you two up to this anyway? I would've expected more from you, Will. Your mentor is missing and all you can do is joke about it," the Baron said sternly.

Halt was eternally thankful that Arald took things light-heartedly.

"No, really my lord! This _is _Halt," Will insisted.

"If he's Halt, then why is he so… young?" Gilan tested.

"He would be able to explain that better than me," Will replied.

"Alright then, kid," Gilan said to Halt. "Let's see how far you can get."

Halt took a deep breath before beginning. Then he told them everything he knew.

* * *

><p>When he was finished, Arald and Gilan were speechless. They just stared at him, jaws dropped.<p>

Gilan was _naturally_ the first to recover, "But… y-you can't be Halt! That's impossible!"

"That's what I said," Will replied. "But now I don't think anything's impossible. That," he pointed to the boy who sat before them all, "is without a doubt Halt."

By now, both Will and Halt had taken the liberty of sitting in one of the soft armchairs at the small table a little way off from the Baron's desk. Will was quite comfortable in his, and so was Halt in his own – only you would never have known it; the small child looked like he was drowning in the large cushions that accompanied the chair.

"But this talk of sorceresses and vanishing horses? Do you really believe it yourself Will?" Arald asked.

Will couldn't blame him for his doubt. When Halt had begun telling his story, he'd been quite stoical and reserved. But then he began to get almost uncharacteristically excited, and his voice went up several decibels until he might as well have been shouting. He even stood up at one stage, pacing with extreme energy that reminded Will of the night before, when Halt had had coffee. Will guessed it had something to do with all of the new energy he now seemed to have as a child. When the boy had finished, he'd just plonked back onto the armchair and fell silent immediately. His little display would've left _every _doubt that he could _possibly_ be Halt.

"My lord, I don't know about you but yes, now I definitely believe in magic, and sorceresses and vanishing horses and all those other things because he, I'm telling you, is _Halt the Ranger!_" Will almost shouted.

"I'm sorry Will, but that can't be Halt!" Arald pressed. "It simply goes against everything ever known to be common fact!"

You could have heard a pin drop in that room then. Halt couldn't take it anymore. He walked up to the Baron's desk. He reached behind his neck and fiddled with something there, then pulled it off. He held it high, for everyone to see, before placing it on the desk.

The little silver oak leaf on the thin silver chain glittered in the flickering light of the fire roaring in the fireplace.

The mere presence of that oak leaf around the boy's neck left no room for scepticism.

"That's mine," the boy clarified, sounding extremely possessive.

Arald just stared at the grim child before him in something like shock.

"So this sorceress, where do you think she's likely to be now?" he eventually managed to say.

So they'd finally convinced him.

* * *

><p>"If you do that one more time Gilan, your backside will be so sore when I'm done with it you'll wish you could <em>lie down<em> on Blaze!" Halt shouted as the young man ruffled his hair for what must have been the twentieth time.

Gilan just laughed again, "Sorry Halt, but it's irresistible! All this time I thought it was impossible that you were ever a child, and now _I_ must be some twenty-something years older than you." _Actually, it's beginning to make _me _feel a bit old_, he thought to himself.

"What, did you think I was _born_ old?" Halt scowled.

"Actually, that's exactly what I thought," Gilan replied matter-of-factly.

Will watched his two companions with amusement. All Gilan had done since he found out Halt was now a child was made fun of him. He was once again his bright and cheerful self, and that drained, worried look about him was gone. He reached down to ruffle Halt's hair again, but the boy then dug his nails deep into the Ranger's hand.

"_Ouch!_" Gilan clutched his hand in pain. "Will, what's gotten into him? I'm getting the feeling he doesn't want someone like wonderful little me around!"

"Well I don't blame him," Will murmured.

"Really, what _was_ that for?" Gilan asked Halt.

"Well you're too tall to hit over the head, and I didn't want to bite your hand; who _knows_ where it's been?" the child grumbled.

The trio had stopped off in the village to buy some groceries before heading back to Will's cottage. It was market day, so many of the travelling merchants from around the kingdom had come to sell their goods. There was plenty to see, and Halt was the most fascinated out of all of them. He stared at everything as if he'd never seen it before.

In a way, he hadn't.

Everything was different from this angle. He'd taken all these sights for granted when he was an adult, but they were just so much more marvellous now that they appeared _larger_.

Will watched the boy curiously. He'd never seen Halt so engrossed in his surroundings that he nearly ran into people and tripped over potholes in the road.

They stopped at a small stall run by one of the local farmers to collect some vegetables. As Will and Gilan looked over the selection critically, Halt's attention wandered to a stall across the road. It sold a number of odds and ends, from little wooden toys to cheap jewellery. He looked up at his two companions, but they were arguing over whether or not the farmer's vegetables were good enough. So, Halt left them to it and strolled over to the stall alone.

After a few minutes of browsing the hopeful merchant's goods, he could hear something going on down the road. He followed the sound to finally come across a couple of street performers. They were a man and a woman, putting on an excellent show for whoever would watch. While the man expertly played a flute, the woman beat on a tambourine as she danced around. Halt watched for a while, but then something else caught his attention. It was the sweet smell of fresh pastries, coming from the bakery even further up the road.

That was too much for Halt to resist. He jogged up the road towards the bakery, but didn't even make it halfway there before he remembered seeing an artist who was sketching portraits back the way he came. He wondered what she was drawing now.

He had to find out.

When he finally found her again, he watched in fascination as she shaded in a portrait of the young man seated on a stool before her.

"How do you do that so well?" Halt asked.

The woman looked up for a moment and smiled. "With a lot of practice," she replied, before going back to her work.

"How much do you charge for a portrait?" Halt queried.

"One silver coin is the cheapest, but it can get much more expensive if you want something more complex."

"Oh. Do you only sketch people?" Halt couldn't help but think his questions were beginning to sound a bit childish, but he couldn't help himself; he somehow felt he _needed _to know the answers, even the unimportant ones.

"I sketch a lot of different things. People are the most common of course, but one man asked me sketch his house once.

"Did you get paid a lot for that one?"

"Yes indeed. I had to walk there you see, and that isn't easy when you're carrying an easel and my charcoal box. Then I had to sketch the house, and it wasn't as easy as sketching a face."

Halt nodded, and continued to watch the woman's quick hand as she smudged the charcoal in all the right places. He suddenly had _another _question that _needed_ to be answered.

"Do you use just _any_ charcoal?"

* * *

><p>As Will paid the farmer for the vegetables they had finally agreed to buy, Gilan reached down to once again ruffle Halt's hair, but realised the boy wasn't even there.<p>

"Will, where's Halt?" Gilan asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, he's right-" Will gestured to the space beside him, but there was no one there. "_Where is he?_"

He spun around, scanning the crowd for the boy, but couldn't see any sign of him.

"He must have wandered off while we were talking," Gilan thought aloud.

"Oh really? I thought he might have flown away," Will said sarcastically. "Come on, we'll search up this way."

The two Rangers made their way up the road, constantly stopping and asking passing villagers if they'd seen the boy. Will was getting a little worried, and extremely confused; it wasn't like Halt to just _wander away._

"There he is!" Gilan pointed to Halt, who was standing next to a roadside artist, chatting to her.

They strode up behind him.

"Halt, we've been looking for you everywhere, where have you been?" Will exclaimed.

The boy looked up, confused, "You were? Sorry, I guess I got distracted."

* * *

><p>The woman handed Pandora a bowl of stew, and she accepted it gratefully. The small farming family had found her unconscious in the forest, and had taken her in.<p>

Pandora was a pretty little thing, with gorgeous emerald eyes and long black locks. She sounded very intelligent, and she was so charming that the family had invited her to stay as long as she needed to.

She smiled as she chewed a spoonful of the spicy stew. She thought about the unfortunate Ranger she'd come across a couple of days ago. Halt was his name, she remembered. Yes, he'd certainly gotten a bit of a fright out of her little show. She could only imagine how he was now; that is, if he was still alive and hadn't frozen in the snow where she'd left him. The spell wasn't complete yet, and it wouldn't be for another few days. Today he should've progressed to the second stage, which was the first trait of a 'perfect child.' She hoped it killed him. She whispered the one little word…

"_Curiosity._"

* * *

><p><strong>So there you go. I was a bit reluctant to add that last bit about the sorceress, but in the end I figured it helped explain the plot a bit. Also, it will give you a chance follow the movement of Pandora (what a fitting name).<strong>

**Now, if you don't remember the importance of the last word in this chapter (for all you wise guys, that word is _curiosity_), just head on back to chapter three and read the spell I wrote (you've got to admit, it was a pretty good poem/spell). It may tell you what happened in this chapter, and what is yet to come *spooky twilight zone music plays*.**

**Please, donate your time and opinion to a good cause and review this chapter. It will help a story in need by giving its author insight needed to improve it.**

**All it takes is touching that little yellow icon below!**


	7. Imagination

**Greetings! Here's my next chapter! And only, like, two days after my last update! Australia Post isn't even that efficient (don't quote me on that; my sources aren't that reliable)!**

**Halt is _really_ out of character in this chapter, but once again, it is all part of the story and an effect from the spell. Basically, this isn't all the Halt we know and love.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice**

**I wanted Baron Arald to say that, but** **I blew the budget this chapter.**

* * *

><p>Halt sat on the veranda of the small cottage, feeling utterly bored. Will and Gilan had left for the village while he was still eating breakfast, claiming they were going to catch up with Alyss and Jenny. <em>Typical<em>, Halt thought, _Gilan isn't even here two days and he's already chasing after women_. Halt just didn't understand why they hadn't let him come. He could've waited around the village, or even Castle Redmont.

It didn't occur to him that they'd left him at home because he'd wandered off yesterday; that was too long ago to think about in his mind at the moment.

Halt wandered into his bedroom and found his longbow. Even as it leaned against the wall it towered over him, just like everything else did in the miserable world of his forcibly _repeated_ childhood. He wondered, not for the first time, if he'd ever be back to normal.

Probably not.

He'd have to wait until he was fifteen _again_ before he could even become an _apprentice_ Ranger. _Then what would happen? _he thought. Who would apprentice him in the first place? He tried to shake these thoughts away. They were going to get him back to normal, he was sure of it.

In the meantime, his main problem was deciding what to do until his companions returned.

Then he got an idea.

He would be a Ranger.

He snuck outside, climbed a large tree on the edge of the clearing and from there scanned the area. He saw a flutter of movement in the bushes as someone ran back into the forest. Halt scrambled down from the tree and raced after them. It was a bandit; a wanted thief with a massive bounty on his head, and Halt was a heroic King's Ranger, out to catch him.

This was all in Halt's imagination of course, which suddenly seemed to be working a hundred times more creatively than it had in years. He was aware all of this was pretend, but he didn't care; he was having far too much fun. He ran back into the clearing, just as Will and Gilan returned. Both of them stared in awe as he dashed past them, and wondered what on earth had gotten into him. Will leapt off Tug and grabbed the boy by the arm.

"Halt! What's going on?" he asked, bewildered and just a little worried for his teacher.

"Quick Will! The bandit's getting away, we have to stop him!" Halt wriggled out of Will's grip and sped away again.

"Wait Halt, come back! What bandit? Halt!" Will called after him, chasing the boy back into the forest.

"Wait up!" Gilan shouted, dismounting Blaze and sprinting after his companions.

Halt was barely thinking for himself. It was as if something else was driving him forward as he ran, like his sudden excitement had a mind of its own. As hard as he tried, he couldn't stop.

Will and Gilan had no idea _what _was going on. Neither of them could be sure if Halt had gone mad or there really was a bandit loose in the forest. They could see the boy just ahead of them, bounding over snow-covered logs, bushes and ground that didn't even need to be avoided.

As he leapt over another log, his foot clipped it and he was sent head over heels into the snow, letting out a startled cry.

"Halt!" both his apprentices raced towards him.

Halt winced as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. He pulled up his trouser leg and looked down at his knee to inspect his new injury. It was little more than a graze, mostly made up of broken skin, with barely any blood at all.

Somehow however, Halt felt like someone might as well be tearing his leg off. The pain was absolutely unbearable! Tears began to fill his eyes. They spilled over and streamed down his face. He let out a little sob – the first in years.

No! He couldn't even dare let out another; it was humiliating enough letting these tears fall. He could feel another sob bubbling up inside his throat, but he managed to rein it in as Will and Gilan came to crouch beside him.

"Are you alright?" Will asked.

Gilan couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Halt's tear-stained face, "Halt, are you _crying_?"

They were more than taken aback. Halt had had more than his fair share of injuries during his years as a Ranger, and he chose to cry over a graze?

"Of course not!" the boy snapped grumpily, after stealthily dashing a hand across his face to wipe away the tears. "When I tripped, a twig flew up into my eyes and they watered a bit."

Gilan couldn't let this opportunity pass. He pulled the protesting child into a mock embrace, patting his back soothingly.

"Aw, did you hurt yourself Halt? Poor thing. Let it out, it's al-"

"_Gilan!_" Halt roared, struggling out of the young man's grip.

"What?" Gilan tried to look innocent.

Halt scowled at him sourly, "You're asking for it Gilan. I told you, I'm not crying."

Will looked doubtful. Gilan was grinning like the idiot he was.

"I just grazed my knee, that's all. I'm fine," he insisted.

"Alright then," Will said sceptically, helping Halt to his feet. "Let's just get that knee cleaned and then this never happened," he promised.

"Well maybe it didn't happen in your mind, but _I'm_ never forgetting this, and I'll make sure you don't either, Halt" Gilan smiled.

They started back to the cottage in silence. Will was beginning to get concerned about Halt. He was sure there was an underlying reason for his strange behaviour – from chasing imaginary villains to the tears over a graze.

Gilan on the other hand was thinking about how else he could mock his mentor.

No one could tell what Halt was thinking. He'd already put on that grim mask he could hide so many emotions under.

* * *

><p>Halt sat in a large tree on the edge of the clearing, thinking hard. He had an idea, but he just had to think of how to carry it out. Perhaps it was too early anyway.<p>

Or perhaps now was just the right time.

He climbed a little further out on the small branch, and it sagged dangerously under his weight. He ignored the signs that it was about to give way, too caught up in his own thoughts to care. He grabbed the branch with both hands, then dropped off and hung there, his legs dangling far above the ground. He began to swing back and forth on the branch out of boredom, doing strange little kicks and twists in the air.

* * *

><p>Will sat down at the table, coffee in one hand, and picked up a report to read. Gilan sipped at his own mug of coffee, and stared out the window at the sky. Neither of them had any idea what Halt was doing beyond the fact he was outside. After he'd cleaned his knee (insisting on doing it himself), he'd just left his companions to their own devices.<p>

Suddenly, the two Rangers heard an almighty CRACK! outside and a frightened cry, followed by a sickening thud. They quickly exchanged worried glances, before they both bolted out the door and across the clearing.

They spotted Halt instantly. The child lay sprawled in the snow under a fallen tree branch, unmoving.

"Halt!" Will cried.

As they ran towards him, Gilan noticed a small trickle of scarlet running down the boy's face from somewhere on the side of his head.

"Oh God. Quick, help me get this branch off him," Gilan instructed.

The two men hauled the branch off their fallen mentor, and Will came to crouch beside the boy. He panicked when he saw the trickle of what he knew was blood and rolled Halt on his back without considering what injuries that action could affect.

"Will, try not to move him too much. He could have broken something," Gilan said as he crouched beside Will.

He carefully shook Halt's shoulder, "Halt? Can you hear me?"

Gilan withdrew his hand, and the boy remained silent. The Rangers waited for something… anything.

Halt suddenly opened his eyes and stared at Will.

He screamed.

That made his companions scream in sudden fright as well.

Halt recovered quickly however, and his scream morphed into laughter. Will and Gilan fell silent as they watched the child laugh his head off. After a few moments, Halt composed himself enough to speak.

He sighed with amusement, "You should've seen your faces, that was classic! And you screamed like two little girls!"

Will and Gilan were completely bewildered. It took them a moment to realise what had just happened.

"Wait, you're not hurt? That was just a joke?" Will asked.

"Of course," Halt said.

"B-but, the blood, you… How?" Gilan couldn't believe Halt had thought of something so creative.

Halt held out a hand, and in his palm were a couple of little red berries. When he clenched his fist, crushing the berries, their scarlet juice ran down his arm.

The two young Rangers above him were speechless; but their shocked expressions quickly turned to anger.

"Lighten up, will you?" Halt grumbled. "No harm done. Was there?" he asked uncertainly, seeing that neither Will nor Gilan had 'lightened up' in the slightest.

He got up and stomped off, muttering grumpily about boredom, jokes and addle brained apprentices.

"Alright, you've got to admit there was a fair bit of thought put into that," Gilan said to Will.

"Yes, but pranks are supposed to be funny, that was serious," Will had been so worried Halt was actually injured that he couldn't believe it when the boy just laughed at him.

"Well I tip my hat to him. That was pretty imaginative. Reminds me of something I'd do."

"Yes, it _was_ creative," Will agreed. "But it wasn't Halt."

* * *

><p>Pandora waved goodbye to the unsuspecting farming family as she walked away. She'd stayed with them for a couple of days while she recovered from her exhaustion after the spell on Halt she'd conjured, but she had to keep moving. She strolled across the field towards the nearing hill; when she was finally over it, she would conjure up a more practical means of transport. She just couldn't do it in front of anyone – it was far too risky.<p>

_Winter truly is magical, _she thought as she watched the snow-covered forest on the edge of the field. It really sparked one's creativity. That reminded her; Halt should be moving into the next stage today…

_Imagination._

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, Halt really <em>was <em>out of character in this chapter, wasn't he? Oh well...**

**I made him tear up when he hurt himself because that's what young children are like; they could have claimed they hurt themselves and be absolutely bawling, but when you check their injury you see barely anything there (it's actually a little endearing sometimes).**

**Hey, what did you think of this chapter anyway? I'm not sure how good it is...**

**Your reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated.**


	8. Bedtime is for Children

**Okay everybody, here she is! *trumpet fanfare*... The next chapter!**

**In this issue: Suspicion among a gaggle of gossipers, threats of a haircut and what happens when a four year old has a late night!**

**You may have noticed that I've gone back and renamed all the chapters. I'm not too sure about their names, so if you have any better ideas, just pm me!**

**Now for those of you who don't like it, I'm sorry but Halt is getting more and more out of character as the story unfolds. This is intentional, by the way. He _is _a kid, and the spell that was cast upon him is what's making him act so strange (just in case you haven't already figured that out).**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice**

**(since I haven't managed to get any special guests to say that yet, I stooped as low as putting out a public invitation to _any_ Araluans or Skandians who wanted to do it, but no one showed up to the auditions :( )**

* * *

><p>"My lady, Baron Arald hasn't heard anything from Halt yet, has he?" Pauline asked in deep concern as she sat opposite Lady Sandra that afternoon.<p>

"No Pauline, I'm afraid I haven't," the baron's wife replied. "Will doesn't know anything? He has been looking for Halt these past couple days, I've heard."

Lady Sandra handed her friend a cup of tea, then took a sip of her own. Pauline had simply come for a quick visit and a chat, as she often did. Sandra was quite worried for her; the poor dear looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"Yes, I've already asked Will. He didn't seem that worried to tell the truth," Pauline thought for a moment, then added, "Oh, maybe I'm just taking this a little too seriously! My husband can handle himself."

"I don't blame you though. Halt must be gone some two and a half weeks now. And it was such a simple assignment!"

Pauline nodded silently. She decided to change the subject.

She smiled softly, "You know, when I saw Will the other day, he was being dragged around the castle by one of the Wards."

Sandra raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? What was their name?"

"Ethan, I believe. He only looked about four or five. He was very keen to keep moving; he kept pulling at Will's cloak and trying to drag him away. It was so endearing!"

Sandra frowned, "That's strange."

"What is it?" Pauline asked.

"Well, I visit the Ward quite often and I've never met a boy named Ethan there," Sandra said.

Pauline's eyebrows furrowed, "Really? Well, I'm _sure_ Will said he was a Ward," she paused, "Actually, now you mention it, I've never known Will to visit the Ward himself. I wonder how he met Ethan, then?"

"Well, like I said, I visit the Ward all the time, and I don't ever remember meeting an Ethan; no one as young as you say, anyway."

Pauline was taken aback. Suddenly, Will's innocent excuse that the boy had just been an excited Ward seemed to take on a whole new light.

Will was up to something, and Pauline was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

><p>"Halt, you need a haircut."<p>

It had been bothering Gilan all evening, and he had finally decided to bring it up. Halt's shaggy black hair was far too long and messy to be acceptable. If the boy didn't look half decent when he was with them in public, it could potentially attract unwanted attention.

Halt glared, "Since when did you take an interest in my appearance?"

"Since your hair was longer than your _horse's mane!_" Gilan countered immediately.

"_I'll _decide when _my _hair is too long, thank you. You don't see me complaining about _your_ weight."

Gilan suddenly looked offended, and a little self-conscious. "What's wrong with my weight?" he asked uncertainly.

"Never mind."

It wouldn't have done to just tell Gilan straight out that he was too thin; the man would have just shrugged it off. It was much more amusing watching his sudden discomfort at thinking he was looking a little overweight (actually, it was quite pathetic considering he was probably _under_weight).

"Well, I still think you need a haircut; and don't worry, you don't have to go to the barber – since you're afraid of him or something – Will can do it," Gilan reassured Halt.

"Me? Why can't you do it?" Will asked indignantly.

"_No one will do it!_" Halt suddenly shouted at the two of them.

They started in surprise at the sudden rise of volume in the room.

Halt quietened down, "If _anyone _is cutting my hair, it will be _me_. Just like it was when I was an apprentice, just like it was when I was a Ranger, and _just like it will be now!_"

Gilan sighed, "Fine."

He would just have to do it one time when Halt was asleep. There wasn't much the child could do about it when his hair was already cut. Gilan thought twice about it though; when Halt did find out he wouldn't take it too well.

As Halt sat wrapped up in a blanket on the floor – since, much to his annoyance, his apprentices had beaten him to the armchairs – he let out a massive yawn. Gilan noticed this and looked out the window at the moon; it was getting late.

"Halt, I think it's just about your bedtime," he said to the boy.

Halt raised an eyebrow in that signature manner of his, "My bedtime?"

"Well yes, it's pretty late for a boy your age to be up." Gilan claimed.

Halt scowled, "You're not my father, Gilan. So would you stop telling me if I need a haircut, when I should go to sleep, and what you think a _boy my age _should be doing! I'm not a _child_, you know."

This time Gilan raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Halt grumbled. "And would you stop raising your eyebrow like that, it looks ridiculous when _you _do it!"

Gilan raised his hands in a gesture of peace, "Alright, alright. But I still think you should go to bed now. It's late," he said gently, but his tone just irritated Halt more.

"Shut up! I'll go to bed when _I_ feel tired!" he shouted.

Gilan realised he was losing the argument, "What do _you_ think, Will?"

Then all eyes were on him. He hesitated. If it was up to him, Halt would have been in bed over an hour ago, but he just wasn't as comfortable voicing his opinion to his mentor as Gilan was. He was worried he'd offend him.

"Er," Will thought for a second, "y-yes Halt, it is pretty late."

"No!" Halt burst out, jolting to a stand. His voice suddenly lowered, "Look, I'm fine. Alright?"

Gilan sighed in defeat, "Fine, but you're going to be exhausted tomorrow."

Halt glared. A deafening silence filled the air for a moment, and Will got up to boil some coffee. Halt sat down hard and faced the fireplace again, looking dangerously angry.

When Will returned with two steaming mugs of coffee, Halt didn't move. He could smell the rich coffee grind as his two apprentices enjoyed his favourite drink, and it just irritated him more.

"What is it with you boys and your coffee?" he growled, without shifting his gaze from the fire. "I swear that's your seventh mug today!"

Will frowned in confusion, "But you used to have that much coffee every day. Why does it bother you now?"

"I hate that horrid stuff!" Halt snapped, spinning around on the floor to face Will.

"Oh please, Halt. You only hate it because you can't have any," Gilan murmured.

Halt was beginning to get even angrier now, "Exactly! And yet you two ignorant idiots are drinking it right under my nose!"

"Calm down, Halt," Will said, not unkindly.

"_No!_" Halt roared, once again standing up. "If you insist on drinking those disgusting beverages, you'll drink them _outside_!"

"It's the middle of the night," Gilan countered. "We're not going to drink our coffee outside just because you're in a bad mood!"

Halt's anger was getting to be too much, "_Yes you are!_ Because I told you to and you must have a death wish if you're planning to defy me right now!"

His two apprentices stared at him for a moment in stunned silence. The boy's chest was heaving with the effort of his anger attack, and, though he didn't even know it, tears were rolling down his cheeks.

Gilan had seen this before, and he knew what it meant. "Okay Halt, you need to go to bed now," he said as gently as he could at the moment.

"No! Would you stop treating me like a child?" the boy shouted.

"Would you stop acting like one?"

"I'm not!" Halt was beginning to sound exasperated.

"Halt, just sit down for a moment," Gilan instructed.

"No," the boy's voice had gone from an angry shout to a sort of loud, tired whine.

"Do you want to go to bed?"

"No!" Halt's angry tone returned as soon as he heard the dreaded word 'bed.'

"Then do you want to stay up with us for a little longer?"

"No!"

"Then, dare I ask, what _do_ you want to do?" Gilan finally asked after he thought he'd grilled his mentor enough.

A sudden look of confusion showed through Halt's anger as he considered the question. He was so exhausted his mind didn't seem to be functioning properly. He tried to think of a dry, snarky comment to answer with, but he couldn't; in fact, he couldn't think of _any _answer.

It was then that he noticed the tears that had streaked his face in the past few minutes.

What on earth were they doing there? He didn't remember crying, and didn't even know why he would. He wasn't _that_ upset; he'd just been a bit annoyed at his companions for their insistence that he went to sleep.

Gilan began to usher the boy into his room. Halt protested a little, continuing to insist that he wasn't tired, but Gilan ignored him. He closed the door behind him as he pushed the boy into his room and entered himself.

Will listened as he heard Halt's voice rise a little in anger at his former apprentice, but Gilan made no reply.

Within a few minutes, Halt's room fell into silence. After a few more minutes, Gilan crept out and carefully closed the door behind him. He strode across the room and seated himself beside Will once again. The Ranger barely waited another second.

"Gilan, what _was _all that?" Will asked in bewilderment.

"What was all what?" Gilan looked a little puzzled.

Will waved a hand pathetically in the direction of Halt's room, "All that with Halt! The jumping up and down, the shouting, the crying! What happened?"

Gilan shrugged in dismissal, "He was just tired. He 'hit a wall,' as they say."

"He _what_?"

"_Hit a wall_. When children get exhausted, they start getting a bit grumpy. Then after a while it all becomes too much and they have… well, a bit of a breakdown."

"But that's not like Halt! That's not like him at all," Will couldn't believe it.

Once again, Gilan shrugged, "Most children aren't themselves when they're tired. Evidently, neither is Halt."

"But why didn't he just have the common sense to go to sleep? He usually would."

"If you ask me, he's in denial. He wouldn't usually go to bed this early when he was older, so I guess he seems to think he still doesn't need to, even now that he's young. He'll be fine again in the morning. He just has to get earlier nights," Gilan paused for a moment, then continued with a smile. "You should've seen him before; I swear he was asleep before he even got in bed."

Will was astounded. He still couldn't believe Halt had just… thrown a temper tantrum. Still, as Gilan had said, it was only because of a late night. Even Will wasn't himself when he was tired (of course, not to the extreme Halt just displayed).

Suddenly, Will thought of something else that had caught his attention, "Gilan? How do know so much about children?"

Gilan looked up, "Well, it's just common knowledge really, but I suppose I learnt a lot when I had to help look after my cousins a few years ago. My aunty was ill for a few weeks, and Father sent my mother and I to help her."

"How old were they?"

"Well, the youngest was Halt's… _present_ age, but the oldest must have been about twelve. There were six of them."

"God!" Will thought aloud. "Six children! No wonder their mother was ill."

"Yes," Gilan agreed, then suppressed a yawn. "Well, I think I might hit the hay myself, if that's alright."

Will nodded, "Of course. I'll get out of your way," Will got up to file into his own room, but paused for a moment. "Gil?"

"Mmm?" the young man hummed, leaning back in his armchair and closing his eyes.

"We'll need to start soon if we're going to track down the sorceress that did this to Halt, you know."

"Fine, we'll start tomorrow if you want."

Will nodded, "Do you think we'll get him back?"

Gilan opened his eyes, his eyebrows raised in question, "Who, Halt?"

Will nodded, and his companion thought for a moment, "I'm fairly confident we will. Unless you like him like this, of course. _I_ do, but the grim old Ranger Halt is probably more preferable."

Will turned to walk to his room, but Gilan's voice stopped him once again, "He never had a very happy childhood, you know."

Will frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just saying. After all, his brother didn't sound very nice if you ask me. Anyway, that's probably why he doesn't seem too happy about all this… deep down, though, I think he's enjoying it."

Will didn't answer. He didn't know how. Gilan had a point, but Will couldn't tell what it all had to do with Halt's sudden rejuvenation.

Gilan's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Goodnight, Will."

"… Goodnight, Gilan."

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, so I may have exaggerated Halt's exhaustion just a bit considering he's four or five and not three, but I did it for effect.<strong>

**What did you think? **

**I know there are so many readers out there who just read this and don't bother reviewing. Well, here's your chance! You don't have to review _all_ the time, just this once. It only takes a few minutes, and it makes me type faster! ;) Also, it'll help me improve this story so it's even more enjoyable!**

**See you next chapter!**


	9. You Should Have Stayed Home

**Alright, here we are, the next chapter! Ta-daa! This is where the story gets a bit more exciting, and deals with the beginning of the next stage of Halt's progression through the spell (though there isn't much about that really, I guess).**

**Anyway, in reference to the last chapter, no, Halt's brother wouldn't have been _evil_ at four, but they still wouldn't have gotten on very well, I don't think. But at the same time, there were many other contributing factors to Halt's unhappy childhood, such as his parents arguing left right and centre (and I wasn't necessarily talking about when Halt was four or five, anyway; I meant his _whole_ childhood).**

**Enjoy!**

**Dislaimer: Well, guess what? I finally got a special guest! Here they are, ladies and gentlemen...**

**Frasier Crane: What? Oh, er yes... The Ranger's Apprentice series is the intellectual property of John Flanagan, and is not owned is any way by Footloose Poets. Thank you!**

**What? I didn't say I had a Ranger's Apprentice guest! By the way, I don't own the television series Frasier, either, and I couldn't actually get Kelsey Grammer in, so I got his character instead.**

* * *

><p>Halt yawned sleepily as he opened his eyes. The sun was already up; he must have slept in. He briefly thought back to the night before, when Gilan had threatened him with a haircut then annoyingly tried to send him to bed. Frankly, he couldn't remember much past that point. He thought he remembered getting a bit angry, but that was it.<p>

He shrugged; if he couldn't remember it, how bad could it have been?

* * *

><p>Apparently, it must have been worse than Halt had thought. When he went into the main room for breakfast, his two companions were acting a little… differently.<p>

Gilan wasn't too bad; except that whenever he made eye contact with Halt for long enough, he'd eventually look away, grinning as if he'd remembered something funny.

Will on the other hand had taken to making sure Halt was as comfortable and content as possible. He went out of his way to get the boy's breakfast for him, offered him the armchair and continued to ask him if he needed anything else.

Halt couldn't take it anymore, "Alright, does anyone care to tell me what's going on? _You're_ acting like an idiot," he pointed to Gilan, "and anyone would think _you_ just found out I have a month to live!" he jabbed a finger at Will.

The two men remained silent. Halt's gaze darted angrily between the two of them.

"Well? What did I do to deserve this?" he challenged.

Gilan sighed, "I'm not entirely sure what Will's doing, but I just keep thinking about last night."

Halt frowned, puzzled. "What happened last night?" he asked a little uncertainly.

Gilan suddenly looked taken aback, "You don't remember?"

"…No…"

Will and Gilan exchanged blank glances, which then morphed into hysterical ones. They began to laugh.

Halt was speechless. What could possibly have happened?

"I'm sorry," Gilan apologised through the few short chuckles he had left, "but I can't believe you don't remember the tantrum you threw!"

Halt's eyebrows shot up, "Tantrum?"

"You seriously don't remember, Halt?" Will asked.

"No! What happened last night?" Halt exclaimed.

"My dear friend Halt," Gilan grinned. "You did what every child does when they have a late night…"

The boy was beginning to catch on, "Oh God, I didn't…"

"You got a bit grumpy, then I think we pushed you a little too far…"

"Please, I don't want to hear it…" Halt's head dropped into his hands.

Gilan's grin widened even more, if it was possible, "And you threw what is often referred to as a _tantrum_."

The two young Rangers waited for their former mentor, who still had his head in his hands, to speak.

"I don't care what you two say. I'm blaming this on you," he said contemptuously.

Gilan shrugged, "As you wish, Halt, but no amount of blame on anyone is going to hide the fact _you're _the only one who was really at fault. I told you to go to bed."

"Fine!" Halt's shouted in spite of himself. "Now that I know why _you're_ acting like an idiot, maybe you can shed some light on why _Will_ is acting more like my mother than my old apprentice!"

"Don't ask me," Gilan shrugged again.

Halt looked to Will, and the young man hesitated. He hadn't been sure how much of last night Halt remembered, so he'd simply been trying to keep the boy as content as possible so he wouldn't bring up the subject; that would be quite a dangerous situation to be in.

"Er," Will decided honesty wasn't presently the best policy. "I was just being… polite," he finished lamely.

"Sure you were," Halt's gaze was blank, yet amazingly penetrating.

He looked away after a while, and absently at the wall, "When you went after me, Will, you didn't happen to see that small farming village west of here, did you?"

For a moment Will wasn't sure _what_ Halt had just said, but it suddenly made sense, "You mean that one near the forest I found you in?"

"Of course. Where did you think I meant?" Halt frowned.

"What about it?"

"That's where I first found Pandora."

"_Who?_" Will was sure he'd misheard.

"The sorceress. Her name is Pandora, if I remember correctly," Halt clarified.

"What kind of name is Pandora?" Gilan wondered aloud.

"What kind of name is Gilan?" Halt countered.

"Well, what kind of name is Halt?"

"Oh yes? Well what kind of name is-"

"_Alright!_" Will suddenly shouted over the top of them, startling them both. He expected that sort of petty arguing from Gilan and himself, but from Halt it almost sounded… childish. "What were you going to say about this village, Halt?"

The boy thought for a moment, "Well, that's where I found Pandora before I tailed her into the forest and she did all that hocus-pocus magic nonsense that ended in this," he gestured to his own body; a body of a much, _much_ younger person than he really was. "She probably wouldn't have returned, since that's the first place we'd look."

"So where do you think she is now?" Will asked.

"Considering she'd been moving south and picking something up from every castle she came across as she went when I found her, I can only suggest she's still heading in that direction. The only flaw with that theory is that there isn't much south of the Tarbus River at all; there's the Solitary Plains and the Western Woodlands, of course, but barely anywhere worth stealing from."

"She could have just moved east now," Gilan suggested. "That would make sense, wouldn't it?"

"It would," Halt replied, "if she hadn't already been there."

"She has?" Will exclaimed in amazement. "How hasn't she been caught yet? She must have half the Ranger Corps after her by now!"

Halt smiled crookedly, "In her dreams. We've just been passing the responsibility along to whichever fief she hit last. Otherwise, every other outlaw would have taken over the kingdom by now. As for not being caught yet, she's a _sorceress_, remember? For all we know, everyone who's tried to catch her has ended up in a mess like me."

"But I just don't get why she'd move south much further," Gilan said. "There's nothing there, unless she lives in the area."

"_Or_," Halt added. "She's planning on crossing the border into Celtica."

The two young men before him fell silent. If Pandora was headed for Celtica, she'd pretty much be there by now. They could have stopped her, but they'd been distracted by what happened to Halt.

They were probably too late.

Will was beginning to wish _he_ could use sorcery; there suddenly seemed to be quite a few benefits.

* * *

><p>"You have to stay here, Halt," Will insisted.<p>

A messenger had just visited the cottage and reported a band of thieves in the area who had stolen a massive array of valuables from the village, including most of the season's harvested crops, two horses and some gold. Will and Gilan were just about to walk out the door and go after the outlaws when Halt had asked what he was supposed to do.

"Stay here?" the boy repeated indignantly. "And what help will that be?"

"What do you mean?" Gilan asked. "You didn't actually think you were coming too, did you?"

Halt didn't answer. He had automatically assumed he _was_ coming, that he could (in some way or another) be of help to his apprentices.

Then it struck him that a four year old boy would probably be a burden more than anything else. All he'd do is get in the way, slow them down and simply be a nuisance. Wow; it was the first time in many years that Halt almost felt… _useless_. He couldn't even do his own job.

He sighed and looked back up at his two companions, "I doubt those thieves will be standing around like you two are if they know what's good for them, so you'd better _get moving_!"

The two Rangers began to file out of the cottage, and Will looked back quickly, "Don't go _anywhere _while we're gone, Halt."

"Yes, _father_," Halt scoffed grumpily.

Will ignored him, and followed Gilan out the door. Halt listened as they moved towards the stable and saddled their horse. He grunted in distaste. He couldn't believe how protective Will had sounded just then. Why were those boys mother-henning him all of a sudden? Sure, there had been moments in the past few days when he hadn't quite acted himself; you could've even said he'd acted childishly, but he was still Halt. He could look after himself.

Halt heard the heavy hoof beats of the Ranger's horses as they cantered out of the clearing. He strode across the room and pulled on his jacket and his boots, then stood up and faced the door.

He didn't care what Will or Gilan said; he certainly wasn't staying in the cottage all day. He walked out the door. He wasn't entirely sure _what _he was going to do, but he knew he was definitely doing it _outside_.

He wandered down the veranda steps and across the clearing. He shivered as the wind picked up a little.

So the clearing was lonely and boring. _The forest would be far more interesting_, Halt thought.

As he wandered through the trees, he became more and more distracted by his surroundings, until he couldn't care less of the dangers of being alone in the forest when bandits are on the loose.

It was very soon that he came to regret that carelessness.

Halt watched his feet as he kicked the snow and it sprayed up before him. The trouble started straight after that, when the snow he kicked hit someone's legs that had appeared in his sight of the snow-covered ground.

He swallowed, and followed those legs up to the body, then finally the face of the man who towered before him. He was a terrifying figure, with menacing eyes and a frightening, gap-toothed grin. There were two others with him, both as unkempt as he was, only one was older and one looked quite young.

"Well hullo there, kid," the first man smiled, only it looked more like a snarl. "What are you doing all alone out here in the big bad forest, eh? Did you run away from mummy?"

Halt didn't answer. He was sure everyone could hear his heart practically thumping its way out of his chest at the moment. His throat had gone dry as well.

What was he going to do now? He had no weapons, no help and no advantage over these men. He began to back away.

"Where are you going, kid?" asked the youngest man. "This conversation is just getting started. Hey, what's that around your neck? Is that silver?"

Before Halt could react beyond a little startled yelp, the man lunged forward and seized the little oak leaf on the chain around the boy's neck, inspecting it critically.

"Heh! It's a tiny oak leaf. Did daddy give that to you?" he mocked.

"Let me see that!" the oldest man shoved the younger away and squinted at the oak leaf himself. A terrifying smile spread across his face, "I know this! This is a Ranger's symbol! I've seen this before, I have!" He looked Halt dead in the eye, and the child felt like he was boring into his head. He barely spoke above a whisper as he said, "Is daddy a Ranger, boy? Is that why you've got this?"

Halt said nothing. He swallowed again.

"Well?" the man persisted. "Is he going to come and save you now?" He looked up at his companions, "We have our way out of here, boys! This kid's going to ensure daddy's not going to come after us, and we might even make a bit of extra cash out of a ransom for him!"

The gap-toothed man looked hopeful, but his younger companion was a little doubtful.

"Will they really pay a ransom for a common boy?" he asked.

"Of course!" the old man snapped. "It won't be a lot of money, but Rangers take care of their own, and this kid is _definitely_ one of their own! Come on, we'll take him to the boss!"

The three men advanced on Halt, and the boy turned to run, but someone grabbed his shirt and pulled the struggling child into a hostile bear hug.

Someone clamped a hand over Halt's mouth to muffle his sudden screams, and the last thing the boy saw before blackness was that terrifying snarl of the gap-toothed man, who slammed a fist right into the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.

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><p><strong>Oh no! Halt's been captured! What will happen now? Ha! Now you HAVE to tune in to next chapter!<strong>

**By the way, please let me know if I made any mistakes with my geography when Will, Halt and Gilan were talking about Pandora's whereabouts. I'm working off a very vague map, after all!**

**So that's it for another chapter! What did you think? This time, anyone who hasn't reviewed at all, and missed the opportunity last chapter, please feel free to go right ahead now! Also, thank you to those who have reviewed! Your support is MASSIVELY appreciated, and I appreciate your opinion on this chapter as well!**


	10. Fear

**Grab some drinks! Get out the confetti! My tenth chapter! Thanks to everyone who's read this so far, and especially to those who have reviewed!**

**I'm afraid there's a bit more Halt OOCness here, but it's once again part of the story. Please read and review!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series.**

**I do own Pandora the sorceress, though. Oh, and the criminals mentioned in this chapter and the previous one as well. And some arrowroot biscuits!**

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><p>Halt's head pounded. He could feel himself swaying slightly, constantly bumping into something broad and rough. He groaned lightly, finally opening his eyes. For a moment, his vision swam, but as soon as it cleared, he realised everything was upside down.<p>

He'd been slung over someone's shoulder, and what he was bumping into was their bony back as they walked along.

He wondered how he'd gotten there. Then everything came back to him.

Simply out of spite, he'd been stupid enough to wander into the forest alone while Will and Gilan were out. Then, knowing his luck, he'd run into probably the _only_ criminals in the _entire_ forest at the moment.

He pushed himself up off the man's back so he could see where he was, but the first thing he saw was that gap-toothed man again. He swallowed as Gap-tooth grinned evilly.

"Morning sleepyhead," he said. "We were wondering when you'd wake up, but we didn't think it'd be for a while yet."

"Is he awake, Barney?" someone called from the front.

"Yeah," Gap-tooth – whose name was apparently actually Barney – replied. "Probably wondering what we're going to do with you, aren't you kid?"

Halt glared, "As a matter of fact, I was. What on earth do you hope to gain from kidnapping a common child, anyway?"

The three – Halt could only assume there were that many – men laughed.

"We know you're not just a _common child_, kid. You were wearing this when we found you, remember?" Barney held up Halt's little silver oak leaf by its chain.

That suddenly made the boy furious.

"Give me that!" Halt roared, lurching forward, which caused the man carrying him to accidentally let go.

Halt let out a short yelp of pain and surprise as he toppled off the man's shoulder and landed flat on his back, the impact knocking the air out of his lungs. He lay there for a moment, winded, as the three men stood above him. Barney dangled the oak leaf above his head.

"Did you want this kid?" he mocked, laughing as Halt reached to grab it and he pulled it away just in time. "Sorry, but I'm afraid it's ours now. You let it go."

"It's mine…" Halt said breathlessly, trying to scrabble to his feet, but Barney just shoved the child back on the ground.

"It hurt when Doug dropped you, didn't it kid?" the oldest of the three men asked. "And if you keep giving him trouble when he's trying to carry you, I'll make it hurt even more; understand?"

Halt just glared. He'd recovered his breath by now, and had pulled himself up to sit on the forest floor. He suddenly leapt up and attempted to grab his oak leaf off Barney again, but the man was one step ahead of him and swung his arm up until he was holding the silver chain far above his head.

"What did I tell you kid? This is ours now," he said, then cried out in pain as Halt slammed his heel into the man's foot.

Doug lunged for the boy, and managed to get his arm around him. Halt kicked and struggled uselessly in his relentless grip, then finally resorted to biting the man's arm – hard. Doug recoiled in pain, clutching his injury.

The oldest man tackled Halt to the ground and pinned him there, slamming his elbow into the back of the boy's head and earning a loud wince from him. That hit, on top of the more severe one he'd received earlier, sent his head spinning. The pounding returned, and he clutched his head, groaning. Through his dizziness, he heard the jeering of the three men as Doug slung him back over his shoulder. The change in orientation just made the boy's condition worse, and he let out a little pained whimper.

He couldn't believe he'd gotten himself into this! There was no way out of it now; he was absolutely helpless in this state.

"Don't worry kid," he heard Barney say through the pounding in his head, "I'm sure daddy will come and save you soon."

* * *

><p>Halt sat against the tree on the edge of the clearing, his hands and feet bound tightly. He'd tried wriggling out of the rope several times already, but each time someone had come along and caused him pain in some way or another, so he'd given up.<p>

The three men he'd first encountered had only been part of a bigger party; the band of thieves that had recently terrorised Wensley. Their leader, a burly middle-aged man, was considerably better groomed than the others; for a start, his clothes were actually clean, and his beard was neatly cropped. Everyone else was _somewhat_ clean, but they all still easily passed as unkempt.

There must have been ten criminals all up, mostly men bar one young woman. She was horribly spoken and threw curses left, right and centre. She may have been beautiful once, but Halt guessed that 'once' was a long time ago. Her blonde hair was shaggy and unevenly cut, even worse than his own, only it was far shorter. Now she was moving towards him.

"Hullo, kid," she smiled, but it only made her more unattractive; her teeth were hideously yellow. "I hear your daddy's one of them Rangers."

Halt said nothing. He was beginning to feel a little nervous, especially now that he had spotted the dagger at the woman's hip.

"Well?" she persisted. "Is he?"

"That doesn't concern you, or anyone else in this miserable clearing for that matter," he grumbled.

"I dunno who taught you your manners, kid, but they're rotten, you know," the woman scowled.

"Yours aren't exactly brilliant either. What are doing you over here, anyway? Are you here to ask me more about my _daddy_?"

The woman looked indignant, "Actually, I came here to give you this," she showed him the silver oak leaf Barney had taken from him, "but if you're going to be rude about it, I'll keep it."

"No!" Halt shouted suddenly, then checked himself. "I'm sorry. Could I have it?"

The woman shrugged dismissively, then tossed the oak leaf to Halt. He caught it in his bound hands, and inspected it critically, ensuring no one had done any damage to it. Then he looked up suspiciously at the young woman, wondering why she was still here.

"Why are you being nice to me anyway?" he asked. "You could've kept this."

Then a wicked smile spread across the woman's face, and Halt realised her kindness had been an artifice.

"Because I'm about to take you to the boss, kid, and he wants to know a little more about you," she explained.

She crouched over and untied Halt's legs, then pulled him up to stand. She shoved him towards the large fire in the centre of the clearing, where most of the criminals were having a boisterous conversation. She led him to the leader of the party, the middle-aged man with the cropped beard. He smiled thinly at the boy standing before him.

"Afternoon, kid," he greeted. "How are you?"

Halt wasn't sure what it was about this situation, but his heart was suddenly racing. He felt a strange, sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach that he hadn't felt for years.

It was almost as if he was… afraid.

He wasn't even sure why. He'd been in far worse situations, with far more threatening enemies; yet right now, his throat had gone dry.

"Alright kid, about that oak leaf you were wearing," the man continued. "Forrest told me it's a Ranger's mark, so why have you got it?"

"My father found it once, near an old battlefield" Halt lied through his teeth. "Someone must have lost it during battle a few years ago or something."

The man just raised an eyebrow, "What does your father do for a living then, kid?"

"He's a farmer."

"Then why didn't he sell the oak leaf? It's silver; he could have made a fair bit out of it."

Halt cursed under his breath. That was the only flaw with his story.

"I liked it, and this year's harvest had a fair yield, so he let me keep it," Halt tried.

He swallowed. The man wasn't buying his story at all.

"I don't like liars, kid, and you're one of them. You're linked to the Rangers; I can tell."

Halt put on a false look of defeat, "Fine. My father _was_ a Ranger. He was killed when I was only an infant and I kept the oak leaf to remember him by."

"So daddy's dead, is he kid?" the man asked.

Halt nodded. The man finally seemed to believe him.

"Very well. But the Rangers are thick as thieves, so whether your father's dead or not, one of them are going to know you, and they're going to want to save you. They'll still pay a small ransom," the man stated nonchalantly. He looked up at the woman standing behind Halt, "Make him appear a little more… hurt. That might encourage the Rangers to cooperate."

Halt's eye's widened. The woman grabbed his shoulder and tried to pull him away, but he began to struggle. One of the men came to help her, wrapping his arms around the boy and lifting him into the air. The woman managed to get a hold of Halt's feet and bind them again, then her companion carried him away from the fire and dropped him in the snow.

Halt let out cry of fear as the woman stood over him with a cudgel raised above her head, ready to bring it down on him. He tried to shield his head, bracing himself for the blow, but it didn't come.

Instead, he heard a sudden shriek of agony from the woman above him, and he looked up to see an arrow protruding from her arm, which had just then dropped the cudgel with a thud beside him. Halt's gaze darted around the clearing, until it fell upon the short cloaked figure that just stepped out of the trees.

"Will!" the boy called to the Ranger, trying harder than ever to pull free of the ropes binding his hands and feet together.

Will quickly looked at the boy, then nocked another arrow and drew his longbow, aiming for the woman's head.

"Untie him," he said simply.

The woman moved to obey Will with her one good arm, but her leader stopped her.

"Wait," he said. "What if she doesn't?"

"Then I'll have to put an arrow through her. Or, better still…" Will moved his bow until the arrow was now trained on the leader's head, "…I'll put one through you."

The man didn't move, "Well done. But if you shoot me, my men will be on you and the kid in the blink of an eye."

"Then we have ourselves an interesting problem, don't we?" Will said coolly.

"Indeed we do. Now, we're willing to leave the boy alone if you cooperate."

"And what does that involve?"

"Gold," the man said. "Give us gold and we'll give you the boy."

He nodded to Barney and within seconds the man had Halt in a headlock and a knife at his throat.

"Will!" Halt urged his apprentice.

He couldn't keep calm any longer. The uncharacteristic fear he'd been feeling had overwhelmed him suddenly, and made tears roll down his face against his will. His eyes were wide with terror and he had broken out in a cold sweat.

"Let him go or you're a dead man," Will reminded the leader.

"Shoot me and _you're_ a dead man," the man countered. He sighed, "Look, maybe I was too forward in asking for a ransom for the boy-"

"You can say that again," Will interrupted.

The man ignored him, "-but I'm willing to amend the deal. If you let us go with the booty we'll drop the boy off at the Tarbus River on the way."

"Not good enough," Will replied. "I want what you stole as well."

"What if we left half the gold and the crops?" the man offered.

"What if I shot you right now?"

"Then the boy would be dead before you can say 'arrow.'"

Will raised an eyebrow, "Actually, I wouldn't be so sure about that."

The man frowned, but before he could speak, Barney cried out in agony, dropping Halt in the process and falling to the ground. It was then that everyone saw the arrow in the back of his shoulder. Then within several blinks of an eye, five other men were on the ground, writhing in pain with arrows sticking out of one part of their body or another. When Gilan then strode out of the trees, the rest of the criminals were speechless. With only a few of them still standing, they were no hope against the two Rangers.

"That's better," Gilan said finally, moving to untie Halt.

Will watched the remaining thieves, daring one of them to move now; wisely, none of them did. When Gilan was finally done pulling Halt free of the ropes, he nodded towards the trees.

"Run. We'll come and get you when we're finished here," he promised.

Halt didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet and sped out of the clearing. He ran as far as he saw fit, which was until he could no longer see any immediate danger, then decided to scamper up a tree. Logic told him nothing could get him up there. He was safe for now.

Still, his heart was racing and he felt that cold stone of fear in the pit of his stomach. Why was he so scared? Will and Gilan were sorting out those criminals right now; they no longer had him. That didn't explain why his hands were trembling slightly, though. He still didn't feel safe, and he wouldn't until he was no longer alone.

So he waited, plastered to the tree, too inexplicably terrified to get down.

* * *

><p>"Halt!" Will called through the empty forest. "Halt, where are you? Come out already!"<p>

He sighed nervously. Halt had run off over an hour ago, and while Gilan had escorted the criminals to Castle Redmont, Will had set out to find his mentor. There had so far been little signs of the boy however.

Halt thought he heard something. It sounded like… footsteps? _Who could that be?_ he thought in alarm. Of course, it could just be Will or Gilan, but Halt had a strange premonition that it was someone with more sinister intentions. He heard the footsteps coming closer, and he swallowed, his knuckles turning white with the force he was using to grip the branch he sat upon.

"Halt!" someone called nearby. "It's me, Will! Where are you?"

Halt looked out of the tree to see his former apprentice scratching his head in confusion, only metres from the boy's hiding place.

_ "Will!" he cried, scrambling down from the high branch of the tree._

_He ran flat out towards the Ranger and threw his arms around the young man, burying his face in his shirt. An incomprehensible string of endless words left his mouth as he began to let out little frightened sobs, overwhelmed with relief that he was finally safe from…_

Halt opened his eyes. He realised he had his arms wrapped around something as if his life depended on it, and looked up to see the bewildered face of Will.

He suddenly leapt back from the Ranger as if he'd been burnt.

"Sorry Will," he stammered. "I don't know what came over me. I guess I was just a bit… shaken."

* * *

><p>Pandora laughed as she stumbled up the stairs of the inn to her room, a young man following her with obvious amusement. She'd had a wonderful night with the boisterous visitors of the inn - laughing, chatting and drinking. But now it was time for bed, and she took the adhesion to her night time routine very seriously. She turned to the young man behind her, the two of them still laughing their heads off. She suddenly drew a dagger and held it before him threateningly.<p>

"Beat it," she grinned.

The man looked drunkenly at the weapon, then the humorous expression on Pandora's face, and just laughed harder. She laughed with him too, as she walked to the door of her room.

"I said beat it!" she suddenly shouted angrily, holding her dagger out in front of her and chasing the man back down the hall and out of her sight.

She sighed. That was better. She wandered into her room and washed her face, preparing herself for bed.

Now that the Ranger Gilan had left his fief to help Halt, Pandora planned to travel north east to Whitby to take a few souvenirs while he was gone. The fief was presently without a Ranger, she'd heard, as Gilan had decided it had been too quiet lately to worry about finding someone to temporarily replace him. That would make her job a thousand times easier.

Then she realised that while Gilan was with Halt, they were probably trying to find her. After all, she doubted the Ranger liked his present condition. She shrugged; they probably think she's still heading south, so she should be fine. Right now, she should focus hitting Whitby.

Once again, however, she wondered how Halt was coming along. He seemed like the stoic, fearless type, so today would have been… interesting, she assumed. The poor man. The third stage of the spell wasn't pleasant for anyone, especially someone who seemed to attract trouble as much as he breathed air.

_'Fear.'_

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><p><strong>And that's it for another chapter! What did you think? Please review!<strong>

**I mean come on; it's been ten whole chapters, now! Surely you'd have the decency to review once? If you're going to review at all, the tenth chapter is definitely a good opportunity (unless you're saving your review for the last chapter; that's alright too).**

**I can't tell you how long it'll be till the next chapter, I'm afraid, because I'm going away for a week soon, and I'm pretty busy till then.**

**Either way, see you next chapter, and don't forget to review!**


	11. My Legs Hurt

**Here we go again, everybody! Chapter Eleven! Hoorah!**

**Enjoy!**

**I've recently started another fanfiction, by the way. It goes along the lines of a Rangers in reality theory, but I've made it more serious rather than funny. It's called 'The Reality Check,' and I've just posted the first chapter. Feel free to take a look, and maybe even drop a review or two if you want.**

**Disclaimer: The Ranger's Apprentice series and its characters are the intellectual property of John Flanagan, and I don't own anything. Oh well.**

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><p>Halt growled with frustration as he scrunched up yet another piece of parchment and chucked it expertly into the fire. He stood up and began to pace.<p>

"What's wrong, Halt?" Will asked, watching his mentor curiously.

Halt waved his hand in a gesture of annoyance, "I can't think of what to write in the damned mission summary!"

"Well, that's easy," said Gilan matter-of-factly. "Wouldn't you just write a _summary of the mission_?"

Halt stopped pacing and stared at him blankly, "You're right, Gilan. I don't know what I was thinking. I should just write that I didn't manage to catch the outlaw because she turned me into an infant and attach a letter to Crowley stating I won't be able to work for another _ten years_!"

"Good point," Gilan agreed. "Just think about it, Halt. What do other Ranger's write when they come across magic?"

"They don't come across magic full stop, and when someone does we tell them to take some time off from work because the pressure's taking its toll on their mind."

"Well, you have to write something sooner or later, and it has to be true," Will stated obviously. "And anyway, shouldn't the Corps know if there is a sorceress on the loose? Otherwise everyone who tries to go after her is going to end up…" he trailed off. "…like you," He finished lamely to Halt.

The boy just glared, then faced Gilan, "You're good at lying, Gilan. Why don't you write it?"

Gilan looked offended, "I do _not_ lie! I prefer to call it… _withholding the truth_; it sounds more acceptable that way."

Halt sighed, sitting back down at the table, "Did you ever grow up, Gilan?"

"Not at all. And I think you could learn a thing or two from that."

"He already did," Will smirked. "He grew back down again."

The two young men chortled at the new joke, and Halt just sighed again. He couldn't believe what humour had been reduced to these days. It was sad, really; even _he_ appreciated the enjoyment of a good joke, but this was ridiculous. Finally, he'd had enough.

"_Are either of you idiots going to help me?_" he shouted murderously, startling both his apprentices.

Suddenly Gilan sped up to the table, uttering a quick apology before taking a piece of parchment, the quill pen and the ink bottle. He dipped the quill in the ink and wrote the details at the top of the page. Then he looked up at Halt.

"Alright, tell me everything from the top. We'll worry about the magic nonsense when we get to it," he said.

"That's better," Halt smiled.

* * *

><p>"<em>Now what do we write?<em>" Halt grumbled once they'd finally reached the point of explaining Pandora's abilities.

Will frowned, "You could just be discreet about it – you know, just say you were caught by surprise because she used some type of illusion and she managed to incapacitate you while you were down."

"Yes, because that's going to sound good on a Ranger's mission summary: 'Oops, I wasn't paying attention and I got caught!'" Halt said sarcastically.

"It'll sound acceptable if we say that twenty armed bandits dropped from the trees," Gilan suggested.

"Yes, I'm sure that sounds believable in that enigma you call your brain, Gilan, but here that sounds ridiculous," Halt scowled.

There was a moment of silence in the room while everyone thought of how they could describe the events that led to Halt's rejuvenation. Finally, the child silently slid out of his chair and strode into his room.

"Where are you off to?" Gilan queried.

"I'm going to dig up some old reports and see what other Rangers have written about magic. It could give us some pointers," Halt replied, shutting the door behind him, thus ending the conversation.

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><p>Will knocked on the door of Halt's room, "Halt? You still in there?"<p>

The boy had been in his room for almost two hours now, apparently reading through reports, and Will was beginning to wonder just how he'd managed to do so for so long without breathing a word to his companions. When no one answered the Ranger's knock, he entered the room.

Will stopped dead when he saw Halt. Reports were scattered messily across his bed, and the boy himself was lying on top of half of them, sleeping soundly. His legs were tucked up beneath him, suggesting he'd fallen asleep sitting up and just toppled over eventually. He was clutching a report in one hand, while the other was hanging over the edge of the bed. Will gently shook his shoulder, and the child started awake.

"Hm?" Halt blinked at Will for a moment, before composing himself and sitting up. "I figured out how we can write this summary," he mumbled groggily.

Will shook his head, "We'll write it tomorrow. You need sleep, Halt."

"No!" the boy snapped. "We need to finish writing this report. I've been reading through these old ones and I know how we can explain everything now."

"Halt," Will said gently, which just made the boy scowl. "When you were an adult, you must have been the lightest sleeper in the world, but four year old children need more rest than a jaded old Ranger."

"But I'm fine," Halt insisted, but his charade was cut short when – try as he as he may – he couldn't supress the yawn that bubbled up inside his throat and managed to escape his lips.

Will just stared at him for a moment, and Halt glared back. The staring went on for a whole minute more, until Halt relented.

"Alright, you win," he sighed.

He wouldn't usually have given up so easily, but he really _was_ tired. Not only that, but Will had a point; Halt just couldn't accept how little his limits had been reduced to. Being a child had few benefits in his opinion.

They gathered the reports up from the bed and placed them in the chest Halt kept all his documents from the Corps in, then the child ushered Will out of his room so he could go to sleep. Will just stood outside the bedroom door for a moment, then shook his head.

"You need to stop having these late nights, Halt."

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><p>Will woke suddenly. He rubbed his eyes, wondering why he'd woken up when there was still some five hours until sunrise.<p>

Then he heard it; a low, quiet moan.

He frowned. Whatever that noise was, it sounded like it was coming from Halt's room. Will got up out of bed and pulled a pair of trousers on under his nightshirt before wandering into the main room. He was surprised to find that Gilan was still sound asleep in an armchair, despite the less than quiet noise emanating from Halt's room. Will just shrugged and slowly opened Halt's bedroom door, the dim light of the dying fire illuminating the little room. In the darkness, he could see Halt writhing in pain on his bed.

"Halt?" Will called in concern. "Are you alright?"

The boy looked up at him, his face screwed up in extreme discomfort, "My legs hurt," he grimaced.

Will frowned, coming to his mentor's side, "That's it?"

"Yes, but you don't get it; they're throbbing like mad," Halt said miserably.

"Why?"

"How should I know?" Halt snapped. "I just woke up in agony!"

Will raised an eyebrow, "It's not that bad, is it?"

The boy glared, "It is."

Will couldn't believe it; if Halt was complaining, it _had_ to be bad, but what was causing it?

"Where does it hurt?" he asked.

"My calves," Halt grimaced again.

Will pulled the sheet off the child's legs to inspect them. However, he was surprised to find nothing was wrong with them.

"Wait here," he said. "I'm going to wake up Gilan; he knows more about this sort of thing than I do."

Halt just nodded, groaning. Will rushed into the main room, shaking Gilan awake. The young man cursed, glaring at his companion.

"There had better be a good explanation for this," he growled.

"It's Halt," Will explained. "His legs are sore and we don't know why."

"That's it?" Gilan asked.

"Apparently it's worse than it sounds."

Gilan sighed and reluctantly followed Will back into Halt's room. When he saw the state his mentor was in, his exhaustion dissipated.

"Where does it hurt?" was the first thing he asked.

"Calves," Will and Halt replied in unison.

Just as Will had, Gilan inspected Halt's legs, then sat back on the bed for a moment, thinking.

"Well?" Will pressed.

A soft smile played on Gilan's lips, "You've got growing pains, Halt."

"What?" the boy groaned, a look of incredulity showing through his pained features.

"Growing pains. Surely you know what they are?"

"Of course, but-" Halt's sentence was cut short as he let out a low, tortured moan.

"What can we do to stop it?" Will asked. He couldn't believe something as simple as growing pains were giving Halt so much grief.

"There isn't much we can do, I'm afraid. I suppose we can rub them or put a hot towel on them," Gilan suggested.

"_Anything!_" Halt groaned.

Gilan got up and moved into the main room to boil some water and collect a towel, while Will remained beside Halt. The child grimaced again, gripping the sides of the bed with a force that could kill.

"Is it really that bad?" Will asked again.

"It's no arrow wound, but it's still _bloody painful_!" the boy replied.

Will said nothing. He decided to rub Halt's legs, as Gilan had suggested. The boy quietened a little.

"How does that feel?" Will asked him uncertainly.

"Better," Halt mumbled. His legs still throbbed madly, but it was an improvement.

Gilan returned with a basin of hot water and a towel. Will got up to let him past, and he dunked the towel in the water and laid it over Halt's calves after the boy rolled onto his stomach. The child still grimaced in pain.

Gilan looked up at Will, "Can you stay here with him? I'm going back to sleep."

He got up and filed out of the room, and Will knelt beside Halt, going back to rubbing his calves.

"It'll be better by morning," he assured him.

Halt just stared at the wall, still gripping his bed, and wondered why, of all things, growing pains had to ail him now. He probably would have _preferred_ an arrow wound.

"God, I hope so," he groaned.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there you go! They were two little ideas I had and just combined them into a chapter. What did you think?<strong>

**Please Review!**


	12. Innocence

**YES! I AM STILL ALIVE! Er... Okay, I should have** **updated this _ages_ ago! I'm so sorry! You see, I recently started my new school year, so I've been bombarded with homework, and before that I had all the last minute shopping and whatnot, so sorry, but I'm back!**

**I'm afraid now that I've started school, updates will be a little less frequent, but hopefully not as bad as this one. If it's any consolation, I think this is one of my longest chapters written, so I've made up for lost time. A little.**

**This is another OOC Halt chapter, by the way. It was quite hard to write (in fact, add writer's block onto the list of reasons this update took so long). Here, I would like to thank Gwedhiel0117, who gave me a massive hand coming up with the plot for this chapter. Thank you so much!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own John Flanagan's _Ranger's Apprentice _series. So, yeah. That's it.**

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><p>Halt sat down with a quill in one hand and an ink bottle in the other. He placed the ink on the table beside the large piece of parchment laid out there and dipped the quill in the bottle. He took a deep breath, and began to write.<p>

He'd barely written _Mission Summary_ at the top of the page when he stopped and frowned at the words. His handwriting was usually relatively neat despite the fact he scribbled words down at an enviable speed; he'd had a very… _privileged _childhood, after all. But what he'd just written looked more like the words had been swallowed by something and spat back on the page. He crossed out the phrase and attempted to write it again.

It looked just as terrible, if not worse.

This time, he wrote it slowly. It was legible, but each letter was wobbly and large. His hand was unsteady and didn't seem to be doing what he wanted. He once again he tried to write at his regular pace, but every letter he wrote looked like a little scribble. His hand just wasn't keeping up! He growled with frustration and stabbed the parchment with his quill, ruining both in the process.

"What on _earth_ are you doing?" Gilan frowned, looking up from his place in the armchair by the fire.

"Writing the mission summary!" Halt replied without even looking up.

"Surely that doesn't involve growling and carrying on?"

"Well, it does!"

"Alright!" Gilan raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "Calm down, Halt. I just wanted to know what was wrong."

Halt scrunched up the piece of parchment in a huff and lay another down in front of him. He sharpened the quill again and dipped it in the ink.

This time, he wrote slowly. Each letter was once again crooked and wide, but it was a far sight better than before.

The door to Will's room swung open suddenly, and out walked an extremely exhausted young Ranger.

Gilan smirked, "Morning, Sleeping Beauty. You got up late."

Will just scowled at him and dragged his feet across floor to the coffee pot on the stove, pouring himself a mug of the brew. He stomped towards the fire and slumped down on the armchair next to Gilan's.

He hadn't had a good night.

He'd been late to bed in the first place. Then, he'd had to get up at some ungodly hour thanks to Halt's growing pains. It had taken over an hour to soothe the boy's throbbing legs enough that he could sleep, and even then the child was left groaning in discomfort. Sleep hadn't come easy for Will when he climbed into bed after that incident, so he must have stayed awake for another half an hour, his mind too alert to fall asleep.

Now, he had woken up over an hour late, feeling more than a little tired. He sipped his coffee, savouring the bittersweet taste that was beginning to wake him up.

Gilan on the other hand had finished his mug and was now carrying it to the wash basin. He looked over Halt's shoulder at his report as he went. He hid a grin when he noticed how juvenile the writing looked.

"Well Halt, that's certainly… different," he stated.

Halt ignored him.

"Actually," Gilan continued, "it looks quite artistic. I didn't know you liked to be creative with your reports. After all, you used to cuff me over the ear for drawing pictures on the corners of the paper-"

"Oh, just _shut up_!" Halt shouted. "You two shouldn't even be here! You should be going after that wretched sorceress who's probably halfway to the border by now!"

For a moment, the two young men were stunned silent, but that only lasted a few blissful seconds.

"But Halt, if we went after Pandora, what would you do?" Will asked.

"I'd stay here," Halt replied obviously. "I can look after myself; I've only been doing it for most of my life."

Will frowned in disapproval, "I don't think you should be home alone. You can barely _see_ the stovetop, let alone use it. And what if someone saw you here? It wouldn't look good."

"Please, Will. You don't have enough of a social life for people to visit you that often."

Will shrugged. He didn't feel up to arguing with Halt at the moment.

* * *

><p>"Would you two hurry it up?" Halt grumbled.<p>

The three had taken a quick trip to the village to collect supplies before Gilan headed off after Pandora. Halt had insisted Will go with him, following the philosophy of safety in numbers, but the man had refused. He still didn't feel comfortable leaving Halt on his own at home. He'd even suggested leaving the boy with Pauline, but he'd vehemently objected; he'd already made it very clear that the last thing he wanted was for his wife to find out about what had happened to him almost a week ago.

"Sorry Halt," Gilan bent down to ruffle the child's hair again, but Halt didn't get angry this time; he'd learnt the best way to cope was simply to ignore him. "But finding the best fruit and vegetables isn't easy when everything is absolute rubbish."

That comment had been heard by the farmer who ran the stall they were currently browsing, and he glared.

Halt sighed impatiently. He didn't want to spend too long in the village for fear of being seen by the wrong person; it could spark rumours, or questions could be asked. He stared around the bustling street, scanning it for anyone he knew. Satisfied there wasn't, he relaxed. Suddenly, he had an idea; if he was seen with Will it would seem suspicious, but if he was on his own, he'd just be another child. He tugged on Will's cloak; he'd come to find it was a far more convenient and effective way to gain the Ranger's attention than simply talking. Will looked down at him, eyebrows raised in question.

"Maybe we could speed things up a little if I went and got some things for you," Halt suggested.

Will frowned, "I don't know. Are you sure?"

Halt raised an eyebrow, "Will, it's just shopping. It's not like I'm not going to take on a troop of Wargals; I think I can handle myself."

Will shook his head, "It'll just be better if we stay together. If you go off doing your own thing you might get lost."

"Lost?" Halt couldn't believe it; a Ranger, lost in a small village?

Will didn't answer; he just looked back at the vegetables on table before him. Halt groaned in annoyance. He looked at the stall next door; it was selling painted plates. He wandered over to inspect them; they were so intricately decorated they left Halt wondering where the artist found such a fine paint brush. He imagined them using a brush with only one hair to paint the fine details on some of the plates. Strangely, he wouldn't have been surprised if they did.

He looked around and realised that, while he had been browsing, Will and Gilan had left the neighbouring stall and were now nowhere to be seen. He quickly strode up and down the street to see if they were there, but they weren't. He began to worry; every face in the area was a strange one, and it was making him feel uncomfortable. _Oh, brilliant!_ he thought. _Those boys have run off and gotten lost!_

He walked along the street, scanning the place more thoroughly this time for his companions. As each minute passed and he still hadn't found them, his stride became more and more anxious. Eventually, he was practically running.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulder, "Oh, are you lost, dear?"

Halt's head snapped up and he stared in alarm at his wife, Pauline.

For a moment, he was speechless, "Er… I-I'm…"

Her eyes narrowed as she peered more closely at Halt, "Wait, you're Ethan! Will introduced us the other day, remember?" Halt nodded, so she continued. "What are you doing out here on your own? Are you lost?"

"_No!_" Halt burst out, then checked himself. "I mean, I'm fine. I'm not lost. You haven't seen Will around here, have you?"

Pauline frowned, "No. Why?"

"I was just looking for him, is all."

"On your own?"

"Er," _Damn! _Halt thought; this was getting more awkward by the minute. "Somewhat." He tried to walk off, but Pauline spoke again.

"Pardon me for asking, Ethan, but what did you want Will for?"

Halt turned back, "I… just need to talk to him." _And get away from you!_

"Is it important? You really shouldn't be away from the Ward without a supervisor; you could get into trouble."

"I don't think they'd be too worried if I didn't turn up for a while," Halt thought he owed it to his wife to at least say _something_ true.

"Is that so?" Pauline looked a little doubtful. "Well, if you're looking for Will, your best bet would be his home."

Halt nodded, "Thank you. I'll be off then." He turned to leave again.

"But Will lives in the forest. You can't walk all the way there on your own."

Halt sighed impatiently, "I can if I leave now."

And before Pauline could say another word, the child turned and began to run. He had to; otherwise he'd probably be asked another incessant question. He moved down one of the side streets, planning to travel back up behind the buildings that lined the main street and find his companions.

He stared out at the stream that ran parallel to the village's main street, and through Castle Redmont further downstream. This was certainly its good side of the castle. After all, the privies hadn't been emptied out here, although villagers had still dumped all sorts of things in it.

He noticed something moving down there. He looked a little closer, but still couldn't quite make it out from the odd hundred metres it was away. He tried to resist the urge to take a closer look, but he couldn't; his curiosity was far too piqued for him to ignore the movement by the stream.

Suddenly forgetting his panic about losing sight of his companions, he trudged down the hill towards the stream. As he moved closer, he realised the small figure was a duck. Its leg was tangled in the compacted dead reeds on the bank, and it was flapping frantically trying to break free.

Halt knelt beside it, and it looked up warily at him. Unfazed, he tentatively reached over and gently placed a hand on the duck's back, and with the other hand tried to untangle its foot. The duck, in its flurry of panic, suddenly bent down and nipped the side of Halt's hand – hard.

The child let out a cry of pain and surprise, falling back and sitting down hard. He clutched his injury, which had already become a scarlet red patch on the side of his hand, as his eyes watered with tears. He looked angrily up at the little duck, and found that it had finally pulled itself free of the reeds. It waddled up beside the boy, no longer scared of him now that he wasn't trying to grab it. It peered at Halt's purse, which was, as always, tied to his belt. The duck pecked at it curiously, and suddenly lunged forward and tried to pull it away.

"Hey!" Halt shouted, trying to wave the duck away, who just quacked stubbornly and continued to pull at the purse.

It had seen humans pull food out of those little pouches, which they then threw to it and the other ducks. Now, it was feeling very hungry, and its logic told it this little human had food for it too. Eventually, it pulled the purse open and fished around inside with its beak. Then it triumphantly withdrew a small bread roll that Halt had stowed away amongst his money for the trip home.

"Oi, give that back, it's mine!" Halt roared, reaching for the bread in the duck's beak.

It momentarily dropped the bread and tried to nip at Halt's fingers, but the child pulled away, grabbing the roll with lightning-fast hands as he went. The duck waddled forward and tried snatch the food back, but Halt held it high above his head.

That made the duck even angrier. It jumped up on Halt's lap, flapping wildly, and the boy let out a little yelp of fright and tossed the bread expertly into the stream. The duck went after it, finally leaving Halt alone on the bank. His heart was racing with surprise.

That had been one scary duck.

He watched it as it paddled away, having gobbled up as much of the bread as it could and leaving the rest there.

Halt hoped a fox ate that stupid bird. He was feeling utterly betrayed at the moment. He had only been trying to help it, and how had he been repaid? The duck had bitten him, stolen his food, and given him a terrible fright. He hated it.

"There you are, Halt!"

Halt looked up to see Will and Gilan striding towards him, their faces flooded with relief.

"Where have you been? We thought you'd been stolen or something! You can't just run off like that, what were you thinking?" Will was babbling in anger and relief, while Gilan just looked concerned.

"Halt, are you alright?" he asked, seeing the boy's pained expression as he clutched his injured hand.

"A duck bit me," Halt replied simply, holding out his hand to show his companions the little red sore.

The two men crouched beside him, and Gilan inspected the injury.

He looked up at Halt incredulously, "Why did it bite you? What were you doing to it?"

"Nothing!" Halt replied angrily. "I was just helping it when it got stuck and it bit me!"

"You were helping it?" Will repeated. "What exactly did you do to help it?"

"Well, its foot was tangled in some reeds and I tried to help it get it out. Then it bit me and stole my bread," the child explained bitterly.

"What did you expect?" Will asked in disbelief. "You can't just grab a bird and expect them not to bite you!"

"You mean like how you can't just play a mandola and expect me not to want to splinter it?" Halt countered.

"Exactly," Gilan agreed. "You probably frightened the duck half to death."

"I was helping it!" Halt insisted. "It's just an ungrateful little beast that deserves to be tonight's supper."

"Halt," Will said patiently. "The duck didn't know you were helping it. It thought you were trying to hurt it."

Halt couldn't believe it. Will had sounded more like he was talking to a toddler than his former mentor just then. Was that really how they saw him now? As a child? Sure, he looked like one, but he didn't think he was acting like one. Then he thought about everything he'd done in the past week and realised… he probably was.

And, God help him, he felt like one. _Almost_.

This was all going to drive him mad, he was sure of it.

* * *

><p>There was a knock at the door that evening. It wasn't regular, though. It sounded sharp and rushed. Frowning, Will got up to answer it. He opened the door and was met with a young man dressed in the standard uniform of an Araluan Courier.<p>

"Can I help you?" Will asked.

"I have a message from Whitby Fief for Ranger Gilan," the Courier replied.

"Sure. I'll just get him for you."

Will turned back to the other occupants of the small main room of the cottage. Halt was attempting to finish his mission summary as neatly as he could, while trying to ignore Gilan's tactless comments about it as the young Ranger sat beside him.

"Gil, the Courier wants to talk to you," Will called, and switched places with Gilan.

He watched as his companion's face went from bright to concerned within the few moments it took the Courier to state their message. Gilan thanked the young man and closed the door, turning to his companions thoughtfully.

"Well?" Will asked. "What did he want?"

Gilan looked up anxiously, "Castle Whitby was hit this morning. They think it was Pandora."

"What?" Halt eyebrows drew together suddenly as he stared in anger at his apprentice. "Is your replacement taking care of it?"

"I didn't… get… a replacement," Gilan finished quietly.

"You didn't – _why not?_" Halt growled.

"Well, Whitby had been so quiet for months, and I figured it would be alright for a couple of weeks while I was here. I didn't know Pandora was a _sorceress_ at the time. Crowley approved it…"

"_I don't flaming care if Crowley approved it!_ You do _not_ leave a fief unattended!" Halt shouted.

"I wouldn't have if I'd known there was a maniacal sorceress on the loose!"

Halt opened his mouth to berate Gilan further, but he closed it again. He got out of his chair and walked up to the young Ranger, then went back and dragged his chair along with him this time. He climbed up and stood on the chair so he was almost at eye level with Gilan. Then he hit the young man over the back of the head with an iron palm. Gilan winced.

Halt just glared, "_Idiot_."

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><p>Pandora kissed the emerald tiara before placing it neatly atop her head and looking at herself in the mirror. Just like every other girl, she'd always wanted to be a princess. She looked down at the other treasures she'd stolen from Castle Whitby this morning and wondered if she could have done better; after all, she'd been in a bit of a rush when she realised she'd been seen. Still, she was pretty impressed.<p>

She wondered how long it would be before the Ranger Gilan went after her now. And he'd probably bring that Will person she'd heard about; apparently they were _both_ apprentices of Halt the Ranger. Not that there was much left of him now. There were only two stages remaining before the Youth Spell was complete, so he was pretty far gone. Especially after today.

_Innocence._

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><p><strong>And there it is! Chapter Twelve! What did you think! Was it enough to make up for my atrocious absence?<strong>

**Please Review!**

**Now, I'm going to run an experiment. I want to see how many people actually read my Author's Notes, so, if you read this one, please put the following phrase at the end of your review:**

**"Nanoo Nanoo!"**

**(I got this idea from pixie blue, and I thought it sounded interesting, because I must admit, I rarely read Author's Notes myself. Aren't I terrible?)**

**See you next chapter!**


	13. Try Not to Wake It

**Nanoo Nanoo! Yes, that's from the wonderful television series _Mork and Mindy_, starring the brilliant Robin Williams! It's one of my favourite shows, up there with _Happy Days _and _The Nanny_. Anyway, here is my next chapter! Yay!**

**For those of you who are curious, I recently started the school year because... I'm from Australia. Over here, we start the school year in late January and finish in early December, because our summer goes from December to February. That's all.**

**Okay, I do read author's notes. I just skip them sometimes because I'm so keen to get on with the story. Usually, I read the chapter then go _back_ and read the notes.**

**Thanks so much for all your reviews! I LOVE them!**

**Okay, this is where the story starts to move a little faster. And get quite interesting...**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: _Ranger's Apprentice_; I don't own it. Full stop.**

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><p>"Are you mad? He'll kill me!" Will couldn't believe it.<p>

Gilan raised an eyebrow, "Are you telling me you're scared of a four year old boy?"

Will shook his head, "I'm not scared of a four year old boy; I'm scared of Halt."

Gilan had woken Will some four hours before sunrise, claiming he had a genius plan. Today, he was meant to be leaving to go after Pandora and thought, much as Halt did, he shouldn't go alone. Since Will didn't want to leave Halt on his own and the boy couldn't very well go with them, Gilan had decided that no matter what he said, the child would have to stay at Castle Redmont, even with Pauline at worst. When Will reminded him that Halt had already made it very clear that was never happening, Gilan claimed he could change that. If Halt was half asleep when they told him, he'd agree to anything. Will wasn't very convinced.

"Look, you'll be fine! And if he wakes up too much, just make something up. Or be stern," Gilan persisted.

"But what am I even meant to say?" Will was almost certain this wasn't going to work. Halt was one of the lightest sleepers in the world.

"Just ask him something simple, like if he wants to go home. If he's still half asleep he'll just say yes without thinking. Trust me; I tried it on him once when we'd just gotten back from a mission. I woke him up after only some two hours of sleep to ask if I could have the week off. He was so exhausted I don't even think he heard the question properly. Except, I think he denied it when he woke up."

"Okay…" Will wasn't exactly sure how true that story was. "Why don't we just ask Arald if he can stay at the Ward for a while? They'd look after him and Pauline doesn't have to know."

Gilan shook his head, "That'll complicate things. Questions will be asked. We'll only do that if worse comes to worst. Now just go in and ask him, will you?"

Will sighed. He turned and slowly opened the door to Halt's room. It creaked, and he froze, waiting for Halt to respond. But the boy didn't. Will's shoulders slumped with relief and he crept up to the child's bed, dropping to his knees beside it.

He took a deep breath, "Halt?"

The boy rolled over to face the wall. "Go 'way…" he murmured quietly.

Will was just about to obey him, when he realised Halt had already fallen back to sleep. He was beginning to think that maybe this wasn't so hopeless after all.

"Halt?" he tried again.

The boy let out a small moan and buried himself deeper under his blanket.

"Halt?" Will was beginning to wonder how many times he would have to do this.

"Mmm?" Halt finally hummed drowsily in recognition.

"Do… you want to… go home today?" Will decided that the slightly indirect question Gilan had suggested would be the easiest way to get a positive response from the boy.

"Mmm-hmm…" the child replied.

Will blinked. He couldn't believe that had worked. He'd expected a response that involved a little more pain. He stood up and turned to leave, expecting some snarky remark from Halt to prove he'd been awake the whole time… but didn't get one. That was odd. When he left the room and closed the door behind him, he was just met with a very smug Gilan, his signature smirk of mischief plastered to his face.

"I hate to say 'I told you so,' but I did," he smiled.

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><p>Hours later, after the sun was just rising over the forest trees (and Will and Gilan had had a few more hours sleep), the two young Rangers were packed and ready to leave.<p>

"Right," Will thought aloud, mentally checking off everything they'd packed. "What now?"

"Now you go and get Halt," Gilan said, tightening Blaze's saddle.

"But why do I have to do it? I do all the risky work."

"And might I say, you're very good at it."

Will glared, "You can go wake him up."

"We're not waking him up. We're just carrying him out here," Gilan corrected him. "And you're doing it."

Will was about to protest further, but decided there was no point. The argument would almost certainly be won by Gilan in the end. Instead, Will just murmured a few preferably inaudible words and strode back to the cottage. He snuck into Halt's room and found a shirt and trousers for the boy, then crept over to the bed and wondered how this could possibly work out. He swallowed and set about the awkward task of pulling the trousers on, the nightshirt off then the shirt on Halt while his trying best not to wake the child. Of course, he wasn't entirely successful; the boy stirred several times and even muttered once or twice, but surprisingly, after Will said a few quiet words, he just allowed the young Ranger to continue.

It was almost concerning Will. Halt never slept heavily, and to see him so easy now made the young man worry that something was wrong. Then again, it was pretty early, and Halt hadn't gotten up at this time for almost a week now; in fact he'd barely done so at all during his time as a child.

Will lifted Halt up to carry him outside, and the boy instinctively put his arms around the man's neck. Will stopped at that. The gesture had been so childish that it sent alarm bells ringing in his ears. For a moment he was tempted to see if he was really holding Halt, or if he was instead holding a child that had somehow taken his place in the last few hours. Will shook the thoughts away and carried the boy out of the cottage.

"_What took you_ _so long?_" Gilan mouthed as Will approached.

Will just shrugged and handed the sleeping boy in his arms to Gilan while he mounted Tug. After several awkward manoeuvres, the two young men then had Halt sitting in front of Will on Tug's saddle, where they slipped on his socks, boots and jacket. The child was stirring a lot more now, and several times they thought he'd woken up, but he just slept on. Gilan's eyebrows rose in surprised satisfaction and he went to mount Blaze. Will placed an arm around Halt's middle and with the other hand flicked the reins. Tug trotted forward, following Blaze out of the clearing.

They rode on in content silence for a few minutes, but Gilan soon saw fit to break it.

"So who do you think we should give Halt to?" he asked curiously.

Will's jaw dropped, "What do you mean? I thought you had all of this planned out."

"No. What gave you that idea?"

Will sighed, "I haven't the slightest clue. I suppose our best option would be Pauline."

"Well, yes, but Halt did say that he wanted anyone _but_ her."

"But like you said, the Ward is too suspicious, and apart from there I can't really think of anywhere else he could go. Pauline is the only sensible option; she'd look after him just as well as the Ward would. And I think she should know about all this, no matter how humiliating it is for Halt."

Gilan sighed in reluctance, "You're probably right, but he's not going to like it." He looked down at Halt and frowned when he noticed the boy was sweating, "Is he alright?"

It was a freezing mid-winter morning and the child was only wearing a thick jacket over his clothes; he shouldn't be hot. Will placed the back of his hand on Halt's forehead, then his neck.

"He's feverish," he stated with concern.

"Oh great," Gilan grumbled in distaste. "Not only do we have to deal with a four year old Halt, but we have to deal with a _sick _four year old Halt. _And _we're meant to be giving him to Pauline to look after. This just gets better and better."

"I think we should take him home," Will said.

"No. Castle Redmont's closer now; there's no point taking him all the way back, especially since there a few more healers at Redmont than there are at the cottage if we need them."

Will opened his mouth to speak, but then Halt stirred and finally woke up. For a moment he just stretched and yawned, then opened his eyes. It barely took a few moments before he became aware of his surroundings.

"Will?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Are we heading to Castle Redmont?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Will hesitated, then finally said, "It was Gilan's idea."

"What?" Gilan looked betrayed. "Halt asks you an innocent question and the first thing you do is put the blame on me?"

Will didn't even turn to look at him, but Gilan already knew what he would have said.

"Fine," he sighed. "It may – or may not – have been my idea."

"Am I missing something here?" Halt asked. He'd already grabbed the pommel and was staring angrily between his companions.

"Look, we thought about what you said, and decided it was probably best if Will came with me when I went after Pandora," Gilan explained.

"Well that's _wonderful_, but why the devil are you heading this way? And why am I coming?"

"Actually Halt, that's just it; we're not leaving yet. We were going to drop you off at Redmont first."

"_What?_" Halt suddenly looked furious. "Why? I've been looking after myself for my entire adult life! What makes _now_ any different?"

"For one thing," Gilan said matter-of-factly. "You're not an adult anymore. Even Will's older than you."

"And Halt…" Will began tentatively.

The child looked up at his former apprentice sharply, "What?"

"I… think you may be sick."

"Well, of course I am! I'm sick of you two treating me more like an infant than a grown man!"

"Honest mistake," Gilan murmured, and Halt's head snapped up to face him. The young man just spread is arms in a gesture of innocence. "Well, have you seen yourself lately?"

Gilan was lucky Halt was in his present condition; young, fevered and incapable of dismounting Tug on his own. Otherwise Gilan would be very _un_lucky.

"So who exactly were you planning to _hand me over_ to? The Ward?" Halt asked.

"We thought about that," Will replied. "But we thought the best person would be… er… Pauline."

Will actually flinched after he said that, expecting the worst from his former mentor.

But the boy didn't move.

"Oh," he said through gritted teeth. "Very well."

The silence was deafening.

"…Halt?" Will finally asked.

"Yes?"

"Are you…?"

"I'm fine."

There was another long moment of silence, before Gilan just flicked the reins and Blaze rode on. Eventually, Will followed.

Halt just fumed.

* * *

><p>"I told you, I'm fine!" Halt growled angrily, as Will attempted to check his forehead once again.<p>

"No you're not!" the young man shouted back. "That fever's gone up. You need to rest."

They'd arrived at Castle Redmont, and were walking down the corridor to Halt's apartment. The boy had remained silent since the argument halfway to Wensley, until now, when Will had noticed his fever had suddenly shot up alarmingly. So far, Halt had chosen to ignore his high temperature, but his companions weren't making it easy.

"I can't very well rest in the middle of the hallway, can I?" Halt spat.

"No, but you still can't pretend you're not ill," Gilan told him.

"But I'm not!" Halt was getting angry again. "Can we just save this until we get to the apartment?"

He spun on his heel and marched down the corridor. Will and Gilan exchanged concerned glances. Halt was anything _but_ fine.

Then it happened; no one was prepared. There was no warning, no way of knowing.

Halt was just walking.

Then he suddenly stopped dead. For a few short moments, he just stood there.

Until he fell to the ground...

And went into convulsions.

* * *

><p><strong>Ooo, that's a bit scary. Okay, not really. Just read next chapter to find out what I've done to Halt!<strong>

**Please Review! It makes me type faster!**

**I'm afraid my updates may be a little infrequent during school. Since I'm juggling two stories at once, I'll try to update at least one of them each week, so this story is likely to only be updated every fortnight, but trust me, I'm trying to change that!**

**See you next chapter!**


	14. The Convulsion

**Okay, I know I should update 'The Reality Check' before I update this again, but I've been dying to write this chapter for so long that I had to do so! Don't worry, 'The Reality Check' will be updated soon. By the way, thanks for all the reviews for last chapter! I just love getting feedback! And I noticed quite a few of you are worried about Halt. So you should be.**

**I suppose there isn't much to say this time around. Oh well. Now there's more time for you to read the actual story.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own as much of _Ranger's Apprentice _as I do of the United States of America; none of it.**

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><p>"Halt!" Will cried, running to towards the thrashing child.<p>

He dropped to his knees beside the boy and rolled him over. Halt just continued to flail uselessly on the floor, his limbs jerking violently in every direction and his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Will began to panic at the surprise of the fit.

"Halt! Halt, look at me! Halt!" he lightly slapped the child's face, trying the wake him from the seizure.

The boy did nothing but continue to convulse. Will began to shake him, desperate for a response.

"Will, stop it! You're going to hurt him!" Gilan intervened, shoving Will aside and unpinning his own cloak.

"What are you doing?" Will asked in bewilderment.

"I don't know if you've realised Will, but Halt's having a convulsion. I'm laying something out for him so he doesn't hurt himself," Gilan explained.

"Isn't there something better we could do? He's having a seizure, for Pete's sake!"

"Would you stop panicking? You're not doing Halt any favours right now. There's nothing we can do to help him until he stops. We just have to make sure that's soon."

Gilan gently lifted the child onto the cloak that had been lain across the floor.

"There," he said. "That'll help keep him from hitting himself against the floor too badly. Now we just have to wait, and make sure he doesn't choke."

"_What?_" Will couldn't believe Gilan could be so calm in this situation. Halt _was_ jerking uncontrollably on the ground, after all.

Gilan placed a reassuring hand on the Ranger's shoulder, "He'll be alright, Will. Just as long as the convulsion doesn't go for longer than a few minutes."

"And what if it does?"

Gilan was silent for a long moment before replying, "I don't know. We'd just have to get a healer. But it's not likely to happen. It's not uncommon for children to have a convulsion when they get a high fever, and they're fine afterwards. They're just more sensitive to temperature than adults."

"Alright," Will said uncomfortably.

He didn't like any of this at all. He didn't like the way Halt's eyes were open but he wasn't awake. He didn't like how silent he was as he jerked and twitched helplessly. He didn't even like Gilan's nonchalant reaction; of course, he hadn't liked his own either. He just didn't see why they should worry so little about the child's sudden seizure.

After a full minute of convulsing, Halt began to have trouble breathing. He suddenly gagged and spluttered, and immediately Gilan rolled him onto his side and tilted his head towards the floor. The child coughed violently, and for a moment Will thought he'd throw up, but then he just gasped and hiccoughed.

The convulsion went on for another minute in much the same way, until it began to subside. It was a fast end to the horrifying experience. The boy's erratic jerks slowed to agitated twitches, and eventually shook away to nothing. His eyes slid shut.

Then there was silence.

"What do we do now?" Will asked. He knew basic first aid, but never anything about these sorts of medical incidents. Gilan didn't know much either; he'd only heard about these sorts of things and what to do when they happened.

"You need to wait here with him," he replied. "Keep him on his side with his head angled to the floor. He might not wake up for a while. I need to go get the healer. Keep an eye on his temperature while I'm gone."

Will nodded, and Gilan left. Halt lay unconscious on the floor, his face flushing with heat before Will's eyes. The young man just sat beside him in silence, placing a hand on the boy's forehead occasionally to check the progress of his fever. The child was well and truly burning up now. Will sighed nervously.

After a few minutes, Halt let out a little whimper and his eyes blinked half open. He stared at the wall.

"…Halt?" Will said tentatively, but the boy didn't respond.

The child just lay there, his brow furrowed slightly, apparently conscious but not really… awake. Will noticed his fingers were moving a little, as if he were trying to clench his fist. The young man reached over and took the hand in his own, squeezing it lightly. Halt looked at the large hand clasped around his, and followed it up the arm to the shoulders, then finally the worrisome face of Will. The young Ranger forced a smile. Halt frowned at him in extreme concentration, almost as if he didn't recognise him.

"You're going to be alright, Halt," Will began to tell him. "Gilan's gone to get a healer, they'll be here soon to help you. You just had a seizure or something, no harm done…"

Halt watched as Will told him everything was going to be okay, that help was on its way and that if he needed anything he'd get it, but the child didn't understand. All he heard were too many jumbled words being spoken by a somewhat familiar voice, coming from a blurry figure above him. His fevered mind was too exhausted to process much else, except that his head hurt and all the talking was making it pound even more.

Soon there were two more figures above him, and the three of them spoke quietly to one another about something that made them worry, but that was all Halt could tell. Someone placed their hand on his forehead, then tried to talk to him. The voice wasn't as recognisable as the other two, but it sounded soft and kind. Then the figure talked to the first one, who had remained beside Halt the whole time. They lifted him up into their arms and began to carry him away. As soon as he was moved, his head swam and he dropped it weakly onto their shoulder.

"_What happened? Where are we going?_" he tried to ask them, but the words came out in a funny mumble that was surely incoherent to the familiar figure that held him.

"Don't worry, Halt," he heard them say. "We're just taking you to the infirmary."

* * *

><p>Will sat on one of the infirmary beds, holding Halt upright as the healer, Patsy, checked the boy for illness. She was the same healer who'd been on duty when Will had returned from his search for his mentor with a freezing child, and discovered who the strange boy had really been. Although Patsy had never been told the truth, she didn't question why she was asked to treat a child who was already meant to be home with their parents again.<p>

"Can you open your mouth, dear?" she asked gently, and Halt obeyed. She silently checked his throat and moved on.

She felt the glands beneath his chin, studied his eyes, and performed various other little checks on his body. Whenever she asked him to do something, he just dully obeyed without a word. Even when she wanted to check his breathing and had to remove his shirt, he just allowed her and Will to do so. When the examination was complete, Patsy frowned.

"I just need go check some documents," she said, and moved into the small office next to the infirmary exit.

"So what do we do now? Should we still give him to Pauline?" Gilan asked, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

Will shrugged uncertainly. He wasn't sure how to answer.

Halt had finally fallen asleep, still leaning against Will, who gently lay the boy's head on the pillow and pulled his legs up onto the bed, just as Patsy returned. She strode towards them, a look of confusion plastered over her face.

"Well?" Gilan asked her. "What's wrong with him?"

The woman hesitated, "That's just it. He's not ill."

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><p><strong>Oh, that's odd. Hmm.<strong>

**Anyway, I'm aware this chapter was a little short, and I'm sorry, but it just felt right to end it there. The next chapter will be a lot longer, if that's any consolation.**

**And by the way, if you're wondering about the cause of the convulsion: Febrile convulsions (google it, if you must) occur in one out of twenty children at some time in their childhood, and are usually caused by a very rapid rise in body temperature.**

**Please review! Each one sent brings me further away from sadness!**

**See you later!**


	15. The Confession and a Headache

**Why hello, strangers! Look, I understand this update took a little while, but... well, I forgot how much work assignments were, okay? That sounds pathetic, but holidays do that to a person, and now that the term has started...**

**So anyway, thanks for all of last chapters' reviews! Here's the next chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: _Ranger's Apprentice _is John Flanagan's. A tiny house in Queensland is my parents'. Dang, now that I think about it, I own very little... *sigh***

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><p>"Not ill?" Gilan repeated indignantly, standing up angrily. "<em>Not ill? <em>How can you give a boy with a fever that could kill an entire examination and just say afterwards that he's _not ill?_"

Patsy spread her arms helplessly, "I'm sorry, Ranger! I've checked him over for any signs of illness and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. He has no rash or anything – his glands aren't even swollen!"

"But he's burning up! There's got to be something wrong with him – he had a seizure for Pete's sake!" Gilan persisted.

"That was only a reaction to the heat, Ranger. I don't know what's causing the fever in the first place. None of the medical documents say anything either."

Gilan sat down, sighing with frustration, "Is there anything you can do?"

"I can give him some herbs that'll help cool him down," Patsy suggested. "But that's it, I'm afraid. I can't give him much else until I know what's wrong with him."

Gilan looked over at Halt's small, clammy form on the infirmary bed. His hair was damp with sweat and his face flushed with heat.

"We'll have the herbs, please," Will agreed.

Patsy nodded and moved to the storeroom, leaving the Rangers alone once again.

"How can there be _nothing_ wrong with him?" Gilan said in disbelief.

"Maybe…" Will began, but trailed off. There was something suspicious about this fever.

Halt stirred, and Will twisted around on the bed to watch him, while Gilan stood up. The child slowly opened his eyes and looked up at his companions, then around the infirmary.

"What happened?" he slurred quietly.

"You don't remember?" Gilan asked.

Halt frowned and shook his head slightly. "We were… in the corridor, on the way to my apartment and… that's it," he mumbled groggily.

"You had a seizure, Halt – from the fever," Gilan told him.

Halt's frown deepened slightly, "Huh."

"How are you feeling now?" Will asked with concern.

Halt shifted a little, "…'ve got a headache."

Just then Patsy arrived with the tea she'd brewed from the herbs.

"Oh good, you're awake dear. How are you feeling?" she asked, placing a hand on the boy's forehead.

"Headache," he whimpered, sounding convincingly childish.

Gilan raised an eyebrow; Halt's ability to adjust to the situation so quickly had to be commended.

"Oh, really?" Patsy frowned sympathetically. "Well, you're in luck, because this cures headache as well as fever, dear."

She held out the steaming mug of tea, and Halt slowly sat up and took it. He sniffed it, then took a sip. His face screwed up in distaste.

"Yes, it doesn't taste all that nice, does it?" Patsy sighed apologetically. "It's the vervain in it. But still, that fever needs to come down and that's the best for it."

Halt nodded and reluctantly drank the rest of the brew. Then he handed the mug back, mumbling a half-hearted thanks.

"You're welcome, dear. Well, that should be about it, then," Patsy said, looking up at the two Rangers. "He really has no need to stay here. Just make sure he gets lots of rest and try to break that fever. If he suffers any other symptoms, bring him back and I'll see if I can find out what ails him."

"Alright, then. Thank you," Will smiled politely.

"Could you come and collect some herbs from the storeroom please, Ranger?"

Will nodded and followed the healer across the infirmary and into the storeroom. Patsy closed the door and turned on the young man.

"I'm not one to be nosy Ranger, but you were meant to take that child home days ago. Why is he still here?" she asked sternly.

"What? Er, he… he… it turns out he… is, er, an orphan."

"An orphan?"

"Yes, I've been looking after him while the Baron approves everything at the Ward. I decided it was best if he went there."

"Really?"

Will nodded. Patsy looked doubtful, but she seemed to accept what he had told her.

"Fine. I suppose it's none of my business anyway," she said coolly. "Now, you're going to need catnip and vervain."

She floated across the room and pulled two jars off a shelf and carried them to a table. Then she scooped a generous handful of herbs out of one jar, placing it in a leather pouch, then half the amount out of the other, doing the same. She replaced the jars on the shelf and handed Will the pouch.

"There you are," she smiled. "Just shake it up a bit before you use it so the herbs are evenly mixed together. Now, just brew a small amount in boiling water and serve, really; nothing too complicated. He needs to drink a lot of water, though. Catnip stimulates sweating so he'll be losing lots of fluids. You only really need to give him a mug tonight, and twice a day if he's still up tomorrow, but I doubt he will be. If it gets worse, bring him back – it's already terrible as it is."

"And that's it?" Will asked.

"That's it. He's fine to go."

Will smiled, "Excellent."

He walked back into the infirmary and up to Halt's bed. The boy was lying down again, staring up at the ceiling with a small frown. Gilan looked up at Will as he approached.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

Will nodded and turned to the child on the bed, "What about you, Halt?"

The boy stared at him for a moment, "Mm-hmm."

"Are you right to walk, though?"

Halt nodded, sat up, and slid out of bed. As soon as he was on two feet however, he was hit with a wave of dizziness and toppled over. Gilan caught him before he hit the ground and pulled the boy up into his arms.

"Right to walk my eye, Halt," he muttered.

Will followed him as he headed towards the exit, but the child in Gilan's arms was soon protesting as vehemently as he could in his exhausted state.

"I'm fine," he insisted groggily. "Put me down, I can walk."

"Fine," Gilan said tersely.

He roughly placed Halt back on his own feet. The boy grabbed the side of the bed and tried to hold himself up while his head swam suddenly. The two young Rangers watched the child as he realised the fact he wasn't even going to make it to the door on his own.

"…Gilan?"

"Yes?"

"You… you were right," he didn't want to say he _couldn't_ walk. Simply admitting Gilan was right was bad enough.

The young man sighed, "Would you like some help, then?"

Halt stared down at his feet and nodded. Gilan moved forward and picked the child up again. He waited a moment while the boy's dizziness wore off, then noticed he was looking a little upset.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Halt," Gilan said. "It takes a big boy to admit when he's wrong."

Halt scowled, but his companion just laughed.

"You'd better stop doing that if you want to be taken seriously anymore," he suggested. "Your little death glares and whatnot just look adorable on a child."

The boy's scowl disappeared immediately, and he looked away, annoyance still extremely evident upon his face. Gilan followed Will out of the infirmary.

* * *

><p>As they walked out the door and down the corridor, they didn't notice someone turn the corner at the opposite end and spot them.<p>

Lady Pauline raised an eyebrow. Usually, she would have been pleasantly surprised to see Gilan, whom she hadn't known had even been in Redmont until now; under normal circumstances, she would have caught up to the two Rangers and greeted them – but these weren't presently normal circumstances. She realised Gilan was carrying something – or rather, someone – who had confused her since the day he'd been dragging Will out of the castle.

It was that boy again; Ethan, if she recalled correctly.

Pauline wasn't generally one to butt into other people's business, but this time, for some reason, seemed different. There was something suspicious about that boy. Will was spending too much time with him. And the child had even left the Ward (if that was really where he came from) alone to go see the young Ranger.

She was tempted to just march straight up to her husband's former apprentices and grill them there. But they'd just left the infirmary, which meant Patsy the healer had just treated someone, which meant she'd likely know who the boy was. Pauline decided to find out.

"Patsy?" she called out, entering the infirmary.

The healer glided out of the storeroom in her usual floaty manner.

"Oh, Lady Pauline! Can I help you?"

"Good morning, Patsy. I just noticed Ranger Will leave with a child. Who is he, exactly?" Pauline asked.

Patsy frowned, "Him? Why do you ask?"

Pauline hesitated, "I just… I happen to know Will rather well but have never met that child. I was curious."

"Well, I believe the boy's name is… Ethan, I think. Ranger Will saved him when he found him freezing in the snow a few days ago. It turns out he's an orphan. Will says he's being admitted into the Ward in a few days."

"Really? Where is he staying now?"

"With Ranger Will himself, I believe, Lady."

Pauline raised an eyebrow, "With _Will_?"

* * *

><p>"She's not here," Will sighed after he knocked for the third time on Halt and Pauline's apartment door.<p>

"So what now?" Gilan asked.

"Just go in," Halt said.

Gilan stared at the child on his hip in disbelief, "Just go in? We can't do that."

The boy shrugged slightly, "It's my apartment."

Halt didn't have the energy to make a sarcastic comment about Gilan's failure to remember the obvious fact. He barely had the energy to keep his head up. He'd contemplated simply resting it on Gilan's shoulder, but quickly dismissed the idea; it was bad enough he had to be carried like a child, he wasn't going to start acting like one.

What happened next caused him to abandon his plan, however.

"Will!" Pauline called behind them.

The two young men swivelled around to see a rather flustered Diplomat, her skirt gathered in her hands so she could walk twice as fast. When Halt saw her, he remembered the reason he didn't want to and swallowed. When the time came to finally tell her, he was certain she'd understand, but he was also convinced it would be one of the most awkward and demeaning moments of his adult life. He was almost afraid of it.

Then something in his mind seemed to break.

It released foreign thoughts he didn't know he had in there. They were driving him to do something he _really_ didn't feel was necessary. But before he knew it he had his face buried in Gilan's shoulder and his hands clutching the man's shirt.

"Halt?" the young Ranger nudged the boy, but he only shook his head and kept his face hidden.

"Will, what's going on?" Pauline finally caught up to them. "What on _earth_ are you doing with this child?"

"Pauline, can we talk about this when-" Will tried, but was interrupted.

"I want an explanation! You can't just find a boy and adopt him, Will, it's not that simple!"

"But-"

"Well?"

"Pauline," Gilan interjected. "He's ill. Can we take him inside and put him down before we discuss this?"

Pauline opened her mouth to protest, then closed it. She nodded, "Of course."

She opened the door for the Rangers to enter. Gilan sat down in an armchair and pried Halt from his shirt. The boy curled up in his lap and buried his face in the man's chest. Gilan shook him.

"Halt? What's wrong?"

Halt suddenly shuddered and looked up at him. He blinked. He looked momentarily confused, then his eyebrows drew together in apparent anger.

"Gilan, I understand I needed some assistance walking here, but do I really need to sit in your lap? I'm not an _infant_."

For a moment Gilan was taken aback. He didn't know what had just happened, but it didn't seem good. Still, he helped the boy to another chair then sat back in his own.

Meanwhile, Will and Pauline had been having their own discussion at the stove while the woman prepared a pot of coffee for the three of them.

"Will you just tell me what's going on, Will?" she asked again.

Will hesitated, "I think it would be best if you sat down before we started."

"Do you really think it's that bad? Trust me – very little can shock me," Pauline insisted.

"Well, this would likely be one of those things that can."

"But what's so bad? You didn't kidnap the poor thing, did you?"

"No, I-"

"He didn't watch his parents get killed or anything terrible like that, did he?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then I don't see what could be so shocking that you can't just tell me. All I want is an answer, you're making it awfully-"

"_The boy is Halt!_" Will shouted finally.

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><p>Halt shifted uncomfortably as his wife stared in awe at him. He looked out the window in an attempt to distract himself from the penetrating gaze, but it was no use.<p>

"Surely I'm not _that_ fascinating?" he said, although he already knew that was as far from the truth as it got.

Pauline didn't say anything. She just continued to stare. Eventually she shook her head.

"I don't see it," she stated hopelessly.

"There's nothing to see," Gilan said. "It's as simple as: that is Halt, he's four or… five, and we need you to look after him."

"But that's impossible…"

"Not really. We've been doing it for almost a week ourselves, now-"

"You know what I'm talking about, Gilan," Pauline's face was hard.

"We can't prove anything to you," Will admitted. "We don't have any solid evidence. We just need you to trust us. That's Halt."

"But…"

"Doesn't anyone want to hear what _I_ have to say?" Halt interrupted.

Everyone turned to the small boy on the armchair. He was looking more than a little irritated and somewhat tired. The three adults mumbled awkward apologies for their ignorance and invited him to continue.

"Thank you," he said through gritted teeth. He turned to his wife, "Pauline, do you really think these two would be capable of convincing a four year old child to play along with a trick of this proportion? And don't you think I sound a little too mature for a boy of my physical age? It's _me_, Pauline – Halt."

The woman stared at him in confusion and slight fear. Somehow, she knew everything she'd been told was true, but she couldn't possibly bring herself to believe her husband had been reduced to this… this child.

"But… how?" she asked.

"We've covered that," Gilan reminded her. "You know, maniacal sorceress, flashing lights, hocus-pocus."

Pauline sank back, feeling a little faint.

"Oh, Halt," she looked over at her husband sympathetically. "The world hasn't been very fair to you, has it?"

"You can say that again," the boy grumbled.

Pauline slowly stood up, moved to where the child sat on the armchair, and knelt down in front of him. She still looked doubtful. Halt swallowed. Then he was suddenly pulled into a fierce embrace by his wife.

"God, I thought you'd been killed or something!" she let out a breath that sounded as if it had been held for an eternity.

Halt just sat there for a moment in shock, then slowly, awkwardly, returned the hug, not entirely sure how to do so; it was all too different now. They sat there in silence for a long moment.

Then Halt's head started to hurt.

A lot.

He grimaced. Pauline pulled away, frowning.

"Halt, what's wrong?" she asked, concern clearly evident in her voice.

The boy didn't answer. He clutched his head as it began to pound.

"Halt?" Will said.

"Hurts," was all the child could manage before he let out a long, quite moan.

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><p>Halt lay clammy and fevered on the small cot in the spare room of the apartment, a wet cloth placed over his forehead. The others had left the room; he didn't know or really care what they were doing now.<p>

He had his own problems to worry about.

He couldn't really describe what was happening. It felt like something was pushing its way into his head, splitting his mind and trying to invade it. It gave him strange thoughts and odd images that he knew shouldn't be there. He tried to push those thoughts back where they came from, but they were persistent.

He wasn't sure how long he lay there trying to keep his mind from being overwhelmed, but he was soon failing. That particular something kept pushing.

Halt couldn't believe it. The final human freedom – his_ conscious thought_ – was being invaded.

And all Halt could do about it was let out a sad little sob and give into it when it eventually became too much to bear anymore.

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><p><strong>Phew! That was tricky to write. I'm not sure if I did that last scene justice. Was Pauline in character? She was hard...<strong>

**Anyway, I'd love to hear your reviews!**

**See you next chapter! :D**


	16. Another Inconvenience

**Oh. My. Goodness. How long has it been since I updated? *peers at update date and gasps* Dang, I'm sooooo sorry! I just finished my second school term, which, let me tell you, was one of the toughest I've had! I'm so sorry, but I had assignment after assignment and exam after exam... I barely had time to breathe until now! ;)**

**But, thankfully, it's all over for two weeks... *sigh...***

**Anyway, I'm back now! Yay! :D Thank you to everyone who's still reading despite the massive time between updates. I will update as much as possible before school starts again, so stay put! And, "The Reality Check" should be updated next and very soon, so if you're following that, you won't have to wait much longer!**

**This chapter is a bit short, and the next one is too, but I really feel they should be separated.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Ranger's Apprentice isn't mine. But then again, I highly doubt very many fans actually _own_ the stories they write fanfiction for, so I really don't think it's necessary to say, is it?**

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><p>"Halt?" Will poked his head into the small room. "Are you awake?"<p>

The boy replied with a miserable little whimper. Will took it as a 'yes' and entered.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, kneeling beside the cot.

Halt opened his eyes and stared groggily at his companion, "Bad."

Will sighed, "I know. I would too. Did you need anything?"

Halt frowned, apparently thinking the simple question through, then just shook his head. Will placed a hand on the child's forehead – his fever hadn't changed; it was still as fiery as ever.

"Alright," Will said. "Get some rest, then."

He stood up and went to leave.

"Wait."

Will turned back to the boy, "Yes?"

"Stay," the boy replied.

"What?"

"Stay… please."

Will dropped to his knees at the boy's bedside again, "What is it, Halt?"

"…'m lonely."

Will's concern reached the rate at which it could easily be called alarm at that statement. Halt didn't get lonely.

"You're… lonely?"

"Stay."

"But Halt, you need to rest."

"Please?"

"Why?"

"Stay."

"But why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

Halt thought for a moment, then just looked up at the Ranger in a silent plea. Will frowned; his mentor was acting incredibly childish.

However, that didn't prevent the man from feeling a little guilty when he denied the boy, "I'm sorry, Halt. I have to go. Gilan and I have to go after Pandora today, remember?"

Halt let out a little defeated sob and mumbled something inaudible.

"Halt, you have to rest," Will reminded him.

The boy let out a moan of discontentment, "'s boring."

"I know – that's why we're not made to get sick. You know, if you go to sleep, the time will pass a lot quicker."

"Can't."

"What, can't sleep?"

"No."

"Why not? Have you still got a headache?"

"No."

"Then why can't you sleep?"

"Because."

Will sighed with frustration. Halt was just being difficult now. What had gotten into him?

"Fine. I'll wait for a while, but then I really have to leave," Will said, seating himself on the bed.

"Thank you."

Those two words, coming from the mouth of Halt the Ranger, were two very big words indeed. Halt _never_ said thank you. Nor did he say please, for that matter. It just wasn't his way. Will wondered what it could possibly be that was so bad that the boy had been so grateful for something as little as company.

He could see some sort of indescribable fear behind Halt's eyes – a fear, it seemed, of losing something.

"What's wrong, Halt?" he asked gently.

The boy frowned in thought. After several moments he just stared at the young man in confusion, shaking his head.

Will sighed, "Alright. Could you drink some water, please?"

Halt nodded and groggily sat up, the damp cloth that had been laid across his forehead falling into his lap. He picked it up and put it in the bowl of water on the bedside table, then reached over to pick up the pitcher.

"Would you like me to fill your cup, Halt? The pitcher's a bit heavy," Will wondered if his offer might have offended his mentor a little, but the child just nodded and allowed him to carry it out.

After Halt had had the water and settled back into bed, Will pulled the cloth out of the bowl, squeezed it out, and placed it over the boy's forehead again.

"Can you try to get some sleep now? Please?" he then asked, but not unkindly.

The boy eyed him with a strange uncertainty for a moment, then lowered his gaze in a sort of agreement. Will awkwardly patted the boy's shoulder in an attempt at a soothing gesture that would still remain within his boundaries of 'non-mawkish'. Halt didn't protest as Will continued, and very soon his eyes slid the rest of the way shut.

Upon this, Will slowly stood up and crept outside.

* * *

><p><em>He was afraid. Very afraid.<em>

_He heard someone speaking; he couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but replied nonetheless. They spoke to him again and he finally opened his eyes to be met with the sight of his friend Will. After the man talked with him for a while, he was going to leave. He didn't want him to leave. He so desperately wanted him to stay. He was afraid._

_Will was kind and stayed with him. He asked him what was wrong, why he was afraid. When he thought about it however, he couldn't seem to remember. But he had been so scared! How could he forget? It mustn't have been that bad, then. Now Will was telling him to rest, to not worry. And he was very tired…_

Halt woke with a start, jerking upright. What the devil just happened? Panting, he lay back down, replacing the cloth he'd accidentally tipped off his face.

He could feel those strange thoughts creeping back from the edges of his mind and trying to overtake it. Could they have just gotten the better of him before? All he could remember was being put to bed, then trying to fight off those thoughts.

Had they managed to overwhelm him after all?

Halt just wished he understood what the devil was going on in the first place. All he knew was that he was fighting a losing battle with foreign forces. It would only be a matter of time, he was sure of it; only a matter of time before he'd have to face the truth that was finally sinking in.

He was losing his mind.

Only, it appeared that he wasn't losing it to insanity, as one usually would. He was losing it to an entirely different mind itself.

A child's mind.

That fact was probably more frightening than insanity itself. What would he become? Would he still be Halt? Would he…

His head began to pound again. He let out a tortured moan and rubbed his temples. The pain escalated. The pounding was so terrible it was almost substantial. It hurt a _lot_.

He began to sob – it was rather childish, but that really wouldn't matter soon. The hurt was too much to endure anyway.

And now that he was lost in his pain those young, foreign thoughts could move in to replace him.

* * *

><p>Will carefully pulled the door shut as quietly as he could.<p>

"Did he need anything?" Pauline asked him.

"No," he replied. "I was sure he was calling before. And when I went in he didn't want me to leave."

"Why?" Gilan frowned.

"I don't know. He just… I suppose he seemed a little scared, or something," Will frowned for a moment, and shrugged. "I guess it's just the fever – it's probably just left him a little disorientated."

Gilan and Pauline nodded solemnly. Will went to sit beside them in front of the fireplace.

"So when are you leaving?" Pauline asked.

"Very soon now, I hope," Gilan answered, glancing at Will. The Ranger nodded.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Pauline excused herself and went to answer it. She opened the door and stepped into the corridor to speak to the visitor. A short while later she returned, concern once again evident on her face.

"Is there something wrong?" Will asked.

Pauline sat down and looked up, "I've been given an assignment to travel to Castle Araluen as soon as possible."

Gilan frowned curiously, "What for?"

"I am to negotiate a lower tax for the fief. Apparently Arald's finding the current payment a little too high."

"So you have to leave?"

"Look," Pauline sighed. "I'm going to ask Arald to find someone else. I can't leave. Not with Halt in the condition he is."

There was a brief moment of thoughtful silence among the three of them.

"Wait," said Will. "Why don't I just stay?"

"What?" Gilan stared at him in disbelief.

"Well," Will continued. "There's no point in Pauline turning down an important assignment when I could just look after Halt."

"But I'm not going after that witch in my own!" Gilan protested.

Will turned to him, "You don't have to actually _catch_ her yet. Just keep on her tail until I catch up to you. I can leave as soon as Pauline gets back."

"But Will," Pauline said. "I could be gone for almost a week, or even longer! What would you do then?"

Will shrugged, "I'd just stay here. I wouldn't normally suggest it, but Gilan can keep a track of Pandora for us, so we're not exactly letting her get any further out of our reach. I'll just join him when you've returned."

Pauline sighed, and thought for a long moment.

Eventually, she made a decision, "Alright. But what do you think, Gilan? You'll be the one going after Pandora on your own."

"Well, I believe Will's mad if he thinks one Ranger can take on a maniacal sorceress alone," Gilan replied. "But – he does have a point. You shouldn't miss this job if we can spare someone."

"Then that's that," Pauline sighed. "I'll leave in an hour."

"I'll leave now," Gilan replied.

* * *

><p>"So you're ready to go?" Will asked Gilan as they stood outside the stables, Blaze waiting beside her master.<p>

"Well," the young man replied. "I'm as ready as one can possibly be when they're taking on something they couldn't possibly be ready for."

Will laughed, "You sound like you're going to a battle against Death itself."

Gilan smirked, "I could be. The woman took out _Halt_."

"Who didn't know she was a sorceress, unlike you. Just follow Pandora and stay out of trouble for a few days until I catch up."

"Harder than it sounds," Gilan answered, mounting Blaze. "But nothing I can't do. However, if I end up as an infant, I swear you'll never hear the end of it."

"Brilliant."

Gilan flicked the reins, and Blaze trotted across the courtyard towards the castle gate.

"Don't kill Halt, Will," he called back.

"Goodbye to you too," the Ranger grinned. "Godspeed, by the way."

* * *

><p>Will sighed as he eased into an armchair by the fire that night.<p>

The day hadn't gone too badly after Pauline had left. Halt had been relatively quiet, apart from the couple of times he'd wanted one thing or another. The only real trouble Will had experienced was when the boy needed to take the herbs Patsy had given them.

Apparently, the bad taste of the vervain was too much to handle a second time.

Halt had practically thrown a tantrum when asked to drink the herbal tea, and in response Will had coaxed and promised and basically said anything that would convince the child to take it. In the end Halt hadn't relented, and Will had to take more forceful measures. Had any other child been the protester, the whole ordeal probably would have ended in tears, but since the protester was Halt, it had instead ended in silence and an hour of sulking. It was actually somewhat of a relief; Will didn't think he could handle tears.

He had still felt guilty though.

He shrugged. It was all over now. Will closed his eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep.

He remained so for several blissful hours.

Until he was suddenly awoken when a scream erupted from Halt's room.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, not a very long one, but I hope you enjoyed it!<strong>

**Anyway, I can't believe how much has upgraded in the past couple of months! Look at all this new formatting and everything! And the Image Manager's pretty awesome. I'll have to use it sometime...**

**And, I see reviews are so much easier with the Review thingy they added at the bottom of the page, so we don't even have to open a new window now! Why not take advantage of this little convenience right now, eh? I'd love to hear your thought on this chapter!**

**See ya later! :)**


	17. The Nightmare

**Okay, I can't say much more than... sorry x 1 000 000! I know I say this every time, but school is killing me. I'm afraid the only time I can promise regular updates is during Christmas holidays, but please let me get through this last school term. Anyway, I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment, so without further ado... Here is my latest instalment of "The Troubles with Youth!"**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: You know, each time I write one of these, I try to make them a little humorous, but I seem to have a temporary deficiency in humourium (a mineral responsible for just how funny one is). I'll be sure to take some more vitamins before my next post! (See? My humour is pathetic at the moment!)**

**I do not own the Ranger's Apprentice series (written by John Flanagan).**

* * *

><p>Halt just wished the child would stop screaming. He groaned with the effort of keeping the door shut as the child behind it beat desperately upon it. Its terrified shrieks were very quickly becoming too much to bear, and Halt's resolve was crumbling fast. Still, he didn't relent.<p>

But nor did the child.

Eventually, Halt couldn't take the screams anymore and he pulled the door open, only to find the room behind it completely empty. Halt stood there for a moment in confusion, trying to spot the now silent source of the noise.

However, there was nothing.

He turned around, and almost fell over in surprise when he came face to face with… himself.

It is quite an odd sensation to look at yourself when there is clearly no possible explanation as to why you could be. There was no mirror before Halt, no means of reflection. There was just another man who looked _exactly_ like him – right down to the shaggy grey beard and Ranger's uniform. It was… unnerving, to say the least. Halt opened his mouth to speak to this… _other_ Halt, but the man was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled struggling away by some dark, unseen figure.

Halt ran after him. He wasn't entirely sure _why_ he was helping his double – he just knew he _had_ to. The scene around him dissolved into a forest as he ran after the other Halt. Very soon however, the double had disappeared from sight. Halt continued to follow regardless.

As he ran, it became more and more difficult to do so. With each step he took, he felt curiously heavier and slower, until he finally had to stop and catch his breath.

"Are you lost, Halt?"

Halt's head snapped up, and he froze. He was surrounded – completely encircled by none other than the same band of thieves who'd kidnapped him days before. Only now, they were so much darker, more menacing. Their lips were curled up in evil snarls as they watched him. But even they weren't the most terrifying figure before him. No, they were deeply overshadowed by the woman who stood at the centre of the circle, her pale smiling face framed by shining black locks and accented with emerald green eyes.

Pandora.

Halt didn't think twice before reaching for his saxe. Only, as soon as he unsheathed it, felt wrong. It was too heavy and as he attempted to fling it towards the sorceress, it sloppily landed beside her. He unslung his bow, but as soon as he held it in both hands it towered over him, far too large for him to possibly use now. He dropped it, realising with despair that it wasn't his weapons that had changed, but rather himself.

His shirt barely hung on his shoulders, its sleeves probably twice as long as his arms. His cloak trailed behind him like a mottled sea of green. His boots had room for about two more feet in them. There was no doubt about it – he was just a child.

"Playing Ranger in Daddy's uniform, kid?" one of the bandits sneered.

The entire circle chortled. Their deafening laughter was disarming, almost frightening, and Halt just wished it would stop. He looked back up at Pandora again, and she simply smiled.

"I'll ask again," she said. "Are you lost, Halt?"

Halt didn't answer. He just stood there and endured another round of raucous laughter, before the bandits were silenced by Pandora.

"You were looking for someone, Halt," she told him, as if he had forgotten. "I found him."

She stepped aside, and Halt gasped. He was now staring down at the lifeless, beaten figure of himself. The man was sprawled across the forest floor, his blank, soulless eyes staring up at the canopy, his body bruised and bloodied.

This finally proved to be too much for Halt. He screamed in horror, racing to the man's side and shaking him for dear life.

"_No!_" he screeched. "Wake up!"

Naturally, the corpse didn't respond.

Halt tried harder, "Wake up! Wake up _please_!"

"It's no use, Halt," Pandora told him, her eyes hard. "He's gone. Let him go."

The circle of bandits took a step further, and Halt's shakes grew more urgent as he realised what was to come.

"_Wake up!_ You have to wake up! Please! You can't be _dead_!"

The group advanced even further and Halt shook his head hopelessly, tears streaming down his eyes.

"Wake up…"

"It's over kid," one of the bandits told him.

"_No!_"

Halt the Ranger couldn't be dead. Not yet. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all…

The group was well and truly on him, and there wasn't a single chance of escape now. It was over.

Halt the Ranger _was_ dead.

Now there was nothing left but for the child to wait for what was sure to come, the haunting cackles of the bandits ringing through his ears…

* * *

><p>Halt's shriek echoed through the small apartment. He was being restrained. It must have been one of the bandits. He began to struggle, trying to break free of the strong hold, but it was relentless. He tried even harder.<p>

"Halt, _please_! Wake up!"

His struggling ceased immediately. He realised he was in his room, in his bed. Everything was silent. The dying fire in the main room dimly illuminated the area. Halt wasn't being restrained by some bandit that wanted him dead; he was being held in Will's lap in an attempt at comfort.

The bandits' evil laugh resonated once again through his head, their malicious smiles flashing past his mind's eye. Halt gasped and buried his face into Will's shirt, beginning to sob. After all, he had no reputation to maintain. He could dissolve into tears all he liked, and it wouldn't make a single difference. He wasn't the legendary Ranger Halt anymore.

He was just a child.

_Mind._

* * *

><p>"Halt?" Will gently shook the boy. "Halt, it was just a bad dream, it's over."<p>

"No," the child sobbed miserably.

Halt clung to Will's shirt as if his life depended on it. The young man tried to pull the boy away for a moment to look him in the eye, but the child wouldn't let him.

"Halt, calm down," Will couldn't handle tears. Not from Halt; it wasn't right. "Do you want to talk about it?" he tried.

Halt didn't even look up. He just shook his head.

"Are you sure? I always feel better after I've talked to someone about my night—"

"No," the answer was small and broken, but Will couldn't ignore it.

They sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity while Halt's sobbing died down. He soon mumbled something Will couldn't quite make out.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't want to be a child anymore."

* * *

><p>Water, in the pot; on the stove. Coffee, in the water, in the pot; on the stove. Bring to the boil, pour into the mug; honey in the coffee. Drink.<p>

Will sighed contentedly as the bitter travelled down his throat and warmed his insides. He walked over to the crackling fire and sat down in one of the large armchairs by it. He flexed his feet, sticking them out and letting the orange flames warm his freezing toes. He sipped again at his coffee. A satisfying silence filled the apartment.

Everything was perfect.

Halt's little episode last night was all but in the past, now. It hadn't been easy convincing the anxious boy he was safe, and Will had sat with him until he had finally fallen asleep again, but that was all over now. Fortunately, Halt's fever had broken shortly afterwards, so Will no longer had anything to worry about. It looked like it would be an easy couple of days ahead.

How wrong his assumption was.

Suddenly, Halt's door was flung open, and the boy raced out of it into the main room, his eyes wildly scanning the area.

"Halt?" Will asked in surprise.

The child spun around at the sound of the Ranger's voice. He looked absolutely bewildered, and… terrified.

"What's wrong?" Will frowned. "Are you alright?"

He got up to approach the boy, but Halt just gasped and took a step back. Tears began to roll down his cheeks.

"Halt," Will tried again. "What's wrong?"

The child just glanced quickly around the room, then back up at the man in fear.

"Who are you?"

* * *

><p><strong>Oh dear. That's not good. That's not good at all. But it was hinted at, as anyone who's followed this story well would know.<strong>

**What do you think? I'll need to know in a review. Very soon.**

**By the way, as I mentioned, I'm quite pressed for time at the moment, so I haven't done any _thorough_ editing on this chapter. If you see any big mistakes, please feel free to let me know. I'll hopefully have time to fix up mistakes tomorrow.**


	18. A New Development

**Uh... Hello all. I understand I have been missing for quite a while. I'd tell you that one day I got lost in the bush and stumbled upon a strange machine that threw me into another dimension, where I spent years battling mystical and terrifying creatures, all the while desperately seeking the way back home, so I may once again be united with my computer and finally update this fanfiction... but I'd be lying. The truth is, I've just been enjoying my Summer holidays after a horrendous year at school. I'm also a procrastinator. But here it is!**

**I haven't been very active on Fanfiction recently, and I apologise. Any fanfics I once regularly followed (namely The Ranger's Son by Rye Mellark and Past Mistake by Bralt, as well as several others) I will catch up on and review within the next few days. I'm sorry, but I've been largely invisible in Cyberspace for a while and I'm glad to be back. To followers of my other fanfictions, I assure you they're next on the update agenda.**

**Okay, I think I've rambled enough.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the _Ranger's Apprentice_ series by John Flanagan. But you knew that. Didn't you?**

* * *

><p>"What?" of all the questions Halt could have asked, Will would never have expected 'Who are you?'<p>

The child didn't reply. He stared around the room, his fear escalating with every second.

"Where am I?" he asked, beginning to panic. "I want to go home. Did Father send me here? Brigid said he wouldn't do that, he was only angry, why would he do that? Please don't hurt—"

"Hey, slow down," Will interrupted. "Are you feeling alright, Halt?"

He placed a hand on the frantic child's forehead, but there was no fever.

"Where am I?" Halt asked again.

Will furrowed his brow, "Halt, this is your apartment."

The boy remained silent, taking in a shaky breath to settle his sobs. Will knelt down on one knee, so he was eye level with Halt. There was certainly something different about the child. As Will peered more closely, he saw something in the boy's eyes that he never imagined he'd see in Halt.

They were totally open. All of Halt's fear, confusion and every other emotion were plastered on his face for all to see. There wasn't a single hint of his signature mask of grim unconcern to be seen. Will began to realise what was going on.

"Halt, you really don't remember any of this, do you?" he asked, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders.

Halt sniffed and wiped his tearful eyes. He didn't answer.

"Halt?"

The child swallowed, "I… I want to go home."

Will nodded, "I know. You just need to tell me what you last remember."

Halt frowned, "I went to sleep."

"Yes, but what happened before that?"

"Brigid put me to bed."

"Who's Brigid?"

Halt hesitated, "… My nurse."

Will blinked. When did Halt ever have a nurse? He wouldn't have one since he was at least…

"How old are you, Halt?" he asked.

"…Who are y—"

"Just tell me how old you are, Halt. Please."

Halt stepped back, his bottom lip beginning to tremble again. He wasn't giving up any more information to someone he thought was a perfect stranger.

Will sighed, "I'm sorry. If I tell you my name, will you tell me how you are?"

Halt thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Alright. My name's Will," the young man told him. "I'm a Ranger, for Redmont Fief. In Araluen."

"I'm four."

_Four?_ At four years old, Halt was still in Dun Kilty. He was still the Crown Prince of Clonmel. He'd probably never even _heard_ of Araluen.

Will had no idea what to do now. He said the first thing that came to mind, "Go get dressed."

"What?" Halt asked.

"Go and get dressed. You've got clothes in the room. Can you dress on your own?"

Halt nodded, but stayed planted on the spot.

"Go!" Will urged him, and the boy suddenly dashed away.

What the devil were they going to do now? Halt thought he was four years old again! Will tried to think of how it could have happened, what must have caused it. Then it struck him – the fever! Halt hadn't had any other symptoms of illness; just a dangerous temperature. All of the boy's strange rambling yesterday wasn't feverish confusion after all. He was genuinely trying to communicate with Will. And what had he done? Just ignored him, passed him off as delirious.

Then there had been the nightmare. Will _knew_ there was something odd about Halt's reaction to it. It had been too… panicked. Sure, a nightmare was a nightmare, but the boy was frantic. And when he awoke, there was clearly something very different about him. Will had noticed Halt wasn't quite himself, but he was too exhausted to be concerned. Now look!

And it was all Pandora's fault. Her spell was behind this. She'd not only transformed Halt's body, but his _mind_. Now he was nothing more than a child. Granted, he was a child who was Crown Prince of Clonmel, but that probably only made it worse anyway.

The door creaked as Halt re-entered the main room. The first thing Will saw was that while the child _had_ changed, his shirt had been buttoned up incorrectly, so that one side hung considerably lower than the other.

That made the Ranger smirk, "Halt, your shirt's crooked."

Halt frowned and looked down. He fiddled with the buttons, attempting to re-button them properly but finding it a little tricky.

"Would you like a hand, Halt?" Will offered.

"No thank you," the boy replied distractedly.

Will waited patiently for a moment while Halt finished the small task. When the boy was done, he looked up the young man expectantly.

"Ready to go?" Will asked.

"Where are we going?"

"We have to see someone. Urgently."

Will turned to leave.

"Wait."

He turned once again to face the child, "Yes?"

"Can you help me with my shoes?"

* * *

><p>Two minutes later, Halt was jogging to keep up with Will's fast stride as they walked down the corridor.<p>

"Who are we seeing, sir?" he asked, puffing.

"Baron Arald," Will replied curtly.

"Oh," Halt frowned. "Who's that?"

"The Baron of Redmont."

"What's Redmont?"

"It's a fief in Araluen."

Halt thought for a moment, before asking, "Why are we seeing him?"

"I have to talk to him about something."

"What do you have to talk to him about?"

Will sighed impatiently, "Look, it's complicated Halt. You wouldn't get it."

Halt fell silent as his gaze dropped to the floor; he looked like he might start crying again. Will and realised he'd probably been a little too hard on the boy. After all, the child had just woken up in a place he didn't know, and immediately been grilled by a total stranger. Will stopped and knelt at eye level with him.

"I'm sorry, Halt," he told him. "I've been too fast, haven't I?"

Halt just stared back at him with two impossibly sad eyes that Will never thought he would be capable of producing. But it turned out he was, and they almost broke the Ranger's heart.

"Look, I know this is all a little bit confusing at the moment, but I'll explain soon," said Will. "I just have to talk to Arald first. Is that alright?"

It didn't exactly occur to Will that he was probably doing this in the wrong order and that explaining everything to Halt should be a priority. For some reason, the most rational thing he could think to do at the moment was tell Baron Arald what had happened.

Halt nodded slowly in reply.

"Thank you," Will smiled, standing up and resuming the short trip to the Baron's office.

Within a few minutes they were standing behind the door. Will knocked and heard a distracted "Come in!" from the other side. He looked down at the boy.

"I need you to be on your best behaviour, alright Halt?" he asked. "This is the Baron, you need to use your manners."

"Alright," Halt replied quietly.

"Good."

Will slowly opened the door and walked up to the Baron's desk. He bowed quickly and straightened up.

Arald smiled, "Morning Will." He nodded at the child, "Halt."

The boy immediately took a step back so he was partially hidden behind Will and peered at the Baron.

The Ranger sighed, "Halt, I'd like you to meet Baron Arald."

"Hullo," Halt greeted him.

Arald's welcoming smile faltered just a little, "Hullo Halt."

"Do you want to go sit down over there?" Will asked the boy, pointing at the armchairs by the fire on the far wall of the study.

Halt nodded silently and raced over and climbed onto one of them. He bumped some of the cushions off the chair as he was trying to get comfortable. When he made no move to pick them up, Will frowned.

"Halt," he prompted.

The boy looked up innocently, "Yes?"

"Are you going to pick up those cushions? You can't just throw them on the floor."

Halt looked down at them, "Where do I put them?"

"Just on another chair, it doesn't matter. They can't stay on the floor."

Halt mumbled something and jumped back off the armchair, picking up the cushions and dumping them on the second chair. Will turned back to Arald, who looked more than a little confused.

"Will, what's wrong with Halt?" he asked, lowering his voice.

"I don't know exactly, my lord," the Ranger replied in the same quiet tone. "It's something to do with the spell. He thinks he's four years old again."

"Well he is, isn't he?"

"Not that. I mean he can't _remember_ anything past four years old. He woke up and had no idea where he was."

"Oh," Arald furrowed his brow. "So he thinks he's a prince?"

Will nodded, "I don't know what to tell him yet."

"Where did you get this?"

Will and Arald turned to see Halt holding a little ceramic soldier on a horse, which had formerly been positioned on the Baron's mantelpiece.

"That's a family heirloom, Halt," Arald explained, beginning to get up. "It's very delicate, could you—"

"I'll be careful," Halt said indignantly. "Can I play with it?"

"I'd prefer you not, Halt—"

"Please?"

Arald hesitated, "Look, I understand you'll be gentle Halt, but—"

"It's _Prince_ Halt."

There was a stunned silence following those two words. The cold tone the child had used sounded more like the Ranger Halt than anything he'd said so far. He walked up to Arald and handed him the figurine, then went back and sat down on the armchair.

Will smirked, "Looks like you've made an enemy of Prince Halt, my lord."

Arald was still quite taken aback, "Yes. Er, alright." He sat down again, "Anyway, back to the situation at hand. What do you plan on doing about this?"

"I don't think there's anything we _can _do," said Will. "I have to go after Pandora and hope the spell's reversible, I guess."

"Yes, I understand that. What I meant was – what are you going to do with Halt? He's far too young to spend too long away from his family. He'll be homesick by tonight."

"I don't know what to say yet," Will admitted. "Maybe if I told him it was only temporary?"

Arald shook his head, "You need something as permanent as possible, in case this spell is irreversible."

"But what?" Will asked hopelessly.

"You'll come up with something, I'm sure. Remember, he's four years old. That's quite a gullible age. If you need any help let me know, but I've got several urgent documents that need to be sent today and I've only finished two. I know this is important, but… well, it's not like there's anything we can do about it immediately, so unless you've got news on Pandora herself I'm afraid this is a priority."

Will sighed, "I understand, my lord."

"Thank you. I'm sorry to hear this, Will. Good luck."

"Thanks," Will looked over at Halt, who'd been eyeing off a sword on a desk against the opposite wall. "Halt?"

The boy looked up.

"Do you want to come back to the apartment now?" the Ranger asked him.

"Can I go home?"

Will and Arald exchanged uncertain glances.

"Ask Will," Arald told him, resuming writing his report.

Will scratched his head, "Er… I'll explain everything back at the apartment, Halt. Is that alright? It seems the Baron wants some privacy."

Halt nodded slowly, then glumly got to his feet and headed towards the door. Will followed him, holding the door open for the boy. When they were once again alone in the corridor, Will looked down at the child. He felt he should say something about the boy's attitude toward Arald, but wasn't sure where to start.

"L-listen, Halt…" he began. "Wait, would you prefer I call you Prince Halt?"

The boy thought a moment, "You can call me Halt if you want."

"Alright then," Will smirked. "Halt, were you on your best behaviour in there?"

Halt glanced back at the office door, then nodded.

"Are you sure?"

Another nod.

"Well, remember when you went to sit on the armchair and you threw those cushions on the floor?"

"Yes."

"That… _wasn't _very good behaviour."

Halt frowned, "Why not?"

"Because it's rude to put cushions on the floor. You need to put them on another chair if you don't want them."

The boy didn't seem to understand, "But can't someone else put them on the chair?"

Will shook his head, "No. If you want to move them, you have to do it _yourself_."

"Why?"

The Ranger sighed, "Because it's polite. Anyway, more importantly – you know how you asked to play with Baron Arald's horse?"

"Yes. He wouldn't let me. He was mean."

"No he wasn't, Halt. You shouldn't have picked it up without asking. It wasn't yours. And he's allowed to say no."

"But—"

Will cut him off, "If he doesn't want you to play with it, you need to respect that. And you need to be polite."

"I _was_," Halt said defensively.

Will took a deep breath. Halt was just as stubborn a child as he was an adult. At least there was _something_ about this boy Will that already knew.

He raised his hands in a gesture of peace, "Alright Halt. I'm sorry. Do you think you could be even _better_ behaved next time?"

Halt shrugged, "Maybe."

That was the best Will was going to get, and he was taking it. But there was still something that didn't quite add up.

"Halt, if your father is the King of Clonmel, didn't you learn how to use your manners around nobles? Surely you've been to some sort of function where you had to be on your best behaviour?"

Halt's shoulders slumped as his gaze fell to the floor, "Father doesn't let me or Ferris go to his special meetings. He says we're too little. We have to stay with Brigid upstairs."

"Oh," Will wasn't sure what to say to that. "Well… I'm sure they're pretty boring anyway."

Halt didn't answer. He obviously found the subject upsetting. Will didn't understand why, though; royal affairs honestly _were_ quite boring. He didn't imagine a young boy would be able to sit still for long enough to attend a formal event anyway. Regardless, Halt seemed to think he was missing out on something that he really shouldn't be. Perhaps his father talked about his work a lot?

"We'd better get back to the apartment, Halt," Will said. "We need to talk about something important."

"What is it?" Halt asked curiously.

"I don't know. I'll think of it on the way."

At least that was _something_ Will could tell him honestly. Now he had to formulate an entire story about how the Crown Prince of Clonmel ended up in Redmont, Araluen.

* * *

><p><strong>So now the story's speeding up. What did you think? I'd like to inform you that I had quite a bit of difficulty with this chapter, which also contributed to the long hiatus. Hopefully next chapter will come a little easier.<strong>

**Er, for those planning to review (I hope quite a few of you, since I appreciate them so much!) I'd like to ask: What has been your favourite part of this fanfic so far? What has been your least favourite? Or you can just send your thoughts on this chapter like usual. That's nice too :)**

**See you next chapter!**


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